RE: GW Micro Helps Make Macromedia Flash Content Accessible to P eople Who Are Blind

Personally, no. They decided I had a little too much fun last year. <grin> 
But we (GW Micro) will definitely be showing it off in our booth.

At 02:08 PM 3/4/2002 -0600, Jim Thatcher wrote:

>Aaron, will you be demonstrating Window-Eyes with Flash at CSUN?
>
>Jim
>jim@jimthatcher.com
>Accessibility Consulting
>http://jimthatcher.com
>512-306-0931
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On
>Behalf Of Aaron Smith
>Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 1:43 PM
>To: RUST Randal; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
>Subject: RE: GW Micro Helps Make Macromedia Flash Content Accessible to
>P eople Who Are Blind
>
>
>Yes, we have been working with Macromedia very closely, and it's been very
>exciting to be able to test the new Flash components. I can only tell you
>how Window-Eyes works with Flash (since it's the only screen reader that
>supports it to my knowledge). When a page loads with Flash content,
>Window-Eyes will announce that by saying "has Flash." Then the contents are
>read just like text. Macromedia is using MSAA to serve the textual contents
>of the movie/animation, so it is easily accessible to screen readers that
>support MSAA (like Window-Eyes). Interactive movies are easily traversable
>by pressing tab. Forms and the like are equally accessible.
>
>The only drawback is that Flash animations are dynamic (hence the word
>animation), so the MSAA buffer may refresh numerous times in order to sync
>up with any changes that may be taking place. That might cause some
>confusion to new users who aren't experienced with Flash. Window-Eyes has a
>built-in hot key (ALT-SHIFT-M) to disable the auto-loading of Flash
>refreshes to keep this confusion to a minimum.
>
>It is really incredible to see sites like foxsports.com that were once
>completely inaccessible to now be very accessible.
>
>Just to toot our horn a little more, this is a huge stride in terms of
>accessible multi-media, and we're very excited to be on the forefront of
>this technology and to be working closely with Macromedia.
>
>
>At 02:31 PM 3/4/2002 -0500, RUST Randal wrote:
>
> >This is the first release of
> > >>Macromedia Flash Player that communicates with screen
> > >readers. People with
> > >>visual disabilities can now share in the best experience on the web.
> >
> >----------
> >
> >Aaron,
> >
> >Have you had a chance to see how Flash MX works?  I'm giving a presentation
> >on accessibility to our local Macromedia User Group on March 20th, and am
> >hoping do demo a little Flash MX for them.
> >
> >I know I'll be able to get it on the 15th, but any first-hand knowledge you
> >could share would be fantastic.
> >
> >Randal
>
>--
>Aaron Smith
>GW Micro
>Phone: 260/489-3671
>Fax: 260/489-2608
>WWW: http://www.gwmicro.com
>FTP: ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com
>Technical Support & Web Development

--
Aaron Smith
GW Micro
Phone: 260/489-3671
Fax: 260/489-2608
WWW: http://www.gwmicro.com
FTP: ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com
Technical Support & Web Development