Re: flash and accessability

Christian,

Thanks for your kind words, and welcome aboard.

The accessible Flash components were developed through a partnership 
between Macromedia and GW Micro. GW Micro (an independent/for profit 
company) manufactures Window-Eyes, currently the only screen reader that 
supports Flash. We're not going to be acquired by Macromedia; quite the 
contrary. We are moving ahead full steam with the upcoming release of 
Window-Eyes Professional which provides voice access to Windows 2000 and 
Windows XP. We at GW Micro have always prided ourselves in our partnerships 
with companies concerned about accessibility (Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia, 
and AOL just to name a few), and we hope to have a few more exciting 
announcements after Window-Eyes Professional has been released.

Aaron


At 03:10 PM 3/4/2002 -0500, Christian Seus wrote:

>Hello,
>
>Yes this is great.  I just signed up for this list today and this is what 
>I get!  This is fantastic.
>
>We work with various non profits and try to get all of the web sites that 
>we make accessible.  We have always wanted to use flash, but then we 
>didn't want to cut off users with accessibility issues.  Now we will look 
>into using flash with our new distance learning projects.
>
>Was this developed by a company owned by Macromedia?  Or is this a private 
>non profit group?
>
>Are you going to be acquired by macromedia?  I hope you take this 
>technology and run with it.  I know Macromedia has been in a do or die 
>stage with accessibility and government contracts.
>
>Has this new tool been tested on a broad base?
>
>I congratulate you on your hard work.
>
>Thanks,
>Christian
>
>Christian Seus
>Technology Specialist
>Division of Policy and Program Affairs
>Institute for Child Health Policy
>5700 SW 34th Street, Suite 323
>Gainesville, FL 32608
>E-mail: cas@ichp.edu
>Web: <www.ichp.edu>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Aaron Smith [mailto:aaron@gwmicro.com]
>Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 2:43 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