Hi to all.

To add to Steve's and Mike's points, I have never been a fan of the 
Macromedia Flash player.  When it's on, you can't use the tab key inside 
it--you have to use the up and down arrow keys.  I am a fan of Internet 
radio, and many of the sites I visit that use the Flash player (including 
all of the stations owned by CBS/Infinity) do not mark the flash buttons at 
all.  If you use a braille display and an older computer, having the 
Shockwave Flash player on can cause your braille display not to properly 
follow the cursor as you type (it's a memory issue).

The nicest thing is that with Windows XP, I can (through the Manage Add-ons 
menu under the Programs heading in Internet Explorer properties) turn on and 
off the Flash player almost entirely at will (I say almost, because you 
should not have the browser open when you do this).  If I go to a site where 
I know Flash is required or if I listen to a radio station that uses the 
Flash player (and doesn't make its base feed publicly accessible), I can 
turn on the player; otherwise, I just leave it off.

To all, take care.

Ted Chittenden




>From: Steve Hoad <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Steve Hoad <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] FW: web sites that take over your pc
>Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 06:29:26 -0500
>
>A bit more on Flash!
>
>Mike said, "You may run into problems by not allowing Flash on your system.
>It is software that *must* be on your system for certain applications to
>work and should not be given a negative connotation."
>Some of the negative connotation about Flash (and, by the way, other 
>programs of its ilk) come from the fact that Flash was not always 
>accessible when using Jaws, WindowEyes, or other screen readers.  Also, if 
>Flash is impropperly used while creating web content, it may still be 
>inaccessible.  Those using older versions of many programs run into trouble 
>if they download the latest, greatest, Flash players because they are not 
>necessarily backwardly compatible with other software.
>
>So, if you haven't got the money, expertise, or inclination to update all 
>of your software and equipment as required by today's standards of 
>thinking, your in an accessibility bind.
>
>PDF suffers from the same problems, e.g if you're still running Windows 98 
>it will not be possible to load the latest PDF reader.  --- Back to Flash, 
>again, many sites will still let you load and use them even if you refuse 
>to load Flash, but Mike is right, there are some sites where you will not 
>be able to enter and use without it.
>
>
>
>posting from Emma's Family Farm
>Windsor Maine;
>Steve Hoad
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>From predictions to trailers, check out the MSN Entertainment Guide to the 
>Academy Awards® 
>http://movies.msn.com/movies/oscars2007/?icid=ncoscartagline1
>
>
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