Macromedia on Monday plans to launch a new product that helps designers and
developers create Web content accessible to everyone--particularly those
with disabilities.

The San Francisco-based software developer said it will offer an
Accessibility and E-Learning Solutions Kit that includes templates, an
online course on accessibility, and other tools and resources.

The launch comes as U.S. government departments and agencies work to
conform to Section 508, an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act that
requires them to use technology that accommodates the needs of disabled
workers. In addition, Web sites created by federal agencies must be
accessible to the disabled. The amendment became law in June.

Standards groups also have been working to encourage Web accessibility. In
September, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a major standards body,
issued draft guidelines for designing browsers, multimedia players and
other Web-based user interfaces.

Macromedia, however, says one of the biggest hurdles in conforming to these
standards and requirements lies in the language.

"We have these accessibility standards, but because designers can't
understand them, we're not seeing any movement," said Bob Regan, product
manager for accessibility at Macromedia. "With something like this tool,
we're actually able to put these accessibility standards in nontechnical
terms."

To help federal sites meet accessibility requirements, Macromedia has
prepared several tools. One, similar to a spell-checker, enables developers
to check each page or an entire Web site to ensure that it is accessible.
The tool, for instance, would point out color tones in a Web site that
colorblind people may not be able to read.

In addition, Macromedia links to a tool that lets Web site developers
implement captioning. The kit also includes a rich-media template to help
developers take advantage of Flash content while still allowing everyone to
use the site.

Advocates for the disabled, who have been aggressively pushing companies to
support technology such as electronic Braille readers, say they are
encouraged by Macromedia's efforts.

"Generally, the disability community has been trying to access (Web content
using) existing technology," said Bill Freeman, president of the
<http://www.adanet.org/>American Disability Association. "We hope that the
work that Macromedia has done will (help) people with disabilities in
accessing the existing content on the Web."

Macromedia's kit, which is available as a two-CD set, is available to those
registering with its products, including Dreamweaver 4, Dreamweaver
UltraDev 4 and Macromedia Flash 5.



Beth Coombs
Administrative Director
EASI - Equal Access to Software & Information
P.O. Box 818
Lake Forest, CA 92609
(949) 916-2837
<http://www.rit.edu/~easi>www.rit.edu/~easi
Phone: (949) 916-2837

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