Micromedia flash player is definitely a visual medium. For the most part
they can be described as flash movies. The flash content on web sites such
as Blue Mountain Arts www.bluemountainarts.com can be described as animated
cartoons. You would send out an e-card of the forth of July with fireworks
blasting.

The slickest production I have seen was on the National Geographic Society
web site. This was a 6-part movie depicting the expansion of the western
United States. During the 1830 - 1859: The audio was quite nice. Example:
An animated map of the United States with States drawn in, zoom in to St.
Louis Missouri with various trails branching out. You would then choose a
trail to here the story of that trail.

Flash media with out the glitz and glamour would be still or sometimes
animated images accompanied by text. Example: A diagram of how a volcano
erupts. The accompanying text at best shows up blurry. When magnified with
ZoomText the text only gets blurrier. The screen reader will not read the
text at all.

More info on micro-media flash accessibility:
Best Practices for Accessible Flash Design: Part 1
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/flash/

http://alistapart.com/articles/flashmxclarifying/



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Kenyon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] dealing with pages on line that recommend a flash
player


: THanks, I figured that it would be something like that.  I run into these
: types of pages all the time, and first remember dealing wih them when I
: was prospect researching.  Half the time I would en up E-mailing the
: companies that I was dealing with.  FOr my work here we have to take an
: annual class, and you have to be in a certain spot to advance forward
: pages when you are working with these net learning materials.  It is easy
: to do, but like I say you need to be in the right spot to advance pages
: and to do a few other things.
:
:
:
:
:
: On Tue, 8 Aug 2006, Andrew Kirkpatrick wrote:
:
: > I hope that I can provide some answers to these questions.
: >
: > Jeff wrote:
: >
: > > What is the purpose of those players?  That is what is
: > > confusing.  How have pages appeared when you turn that off,
: > > adn do you think you are missing anything in terms of links
: > > or other material on the page?
: >
: > Please forgive me if I'm starting at too basic a level.  I know that
: > many list subscribers have extensive knowledge on web technologies and
: > don't want anyone to feel talked down to, I'd just like to establish a
: > base to build on.
: >
: > Flash is a technology for developing rich interactive applications and
: > content.  Those applications and content display within the Flash
: > player, which is a activeX plugin for Internet Explorer.  There are
: > versions of the Flash player for all major browsers on Windows,
: > Macintosh, and Linux, but as of today the player that delivers
: > accessibility information to screen readers is the Internet Explorer
: > version (for now).
: >
: > Flash content and applications include small media players that you
: > might find on a web page, interactive quizzes, or full-fledged Internet
: > applications. Unfortunately, Flash is also used for banner
: > advertisements, but that seems to be waning, in my opinion.  I'll
: > provide some example links at the end of this message, after I respond
: > to Ted's comments.
: >
: > Ted wrote:
: >
: > > > Jeff, as a person who travels to websites looking for
: > > Internet radio
: > > > streams, I can tell you that I mostly ignore those requests.  I now
: > > > have Windows XP, and I can turn the Macromedia Flash player
: > > on and off
: > > > at will through the "Manage Add-ons" option in the Tools
: > > menu in Internet Explorer.
: >
: > Sure.  You can also install the Flash player and then control your
: > experience in JAWS's configuration manager.  In "HTML options" on the
: > "misc" page tab you'll find a checkbox labeled "ignore flash on web
: > pages" which will shut down flash content in JAWS and since you will
: > have the player you won't be bothered with reminders.
: >
: > > > Frankly, as a totally blind person, I find the Macromedia
: > > Flash player
: > > > at best difficult to use (even if the buttons are labeled) and at
: > > > worst, an absolute pain in the neck so I use the software
: > > very sparingly.
: >
: > I'm sorry to hear that, but I'd like to reframe your concerns.  What
: > you're saying is roughly equivalent to "I find the C++ programming
: > language and Windows rendering of it at best difficult to use".  Flash
: > is not without problems, and we are working on these issues actively,
: > but nor is any other technology without problems.  The bulk of the
: > issues that users experience with Flash is due to developers who have
: > not taken the steps to ensure that their applications are accessible. As
: > you indicate, it usually takes more than labeled buttons to make an
: > application accessible, but if you encounter a flash-based application
: > and hear "button...button...button" as you tab around, the developer has
: > not done their work with accessibility in mind - labeling buttons,
: > images, and other form controls is a basic development task - it is no
: > more difficult than doing the same for an HTML web page or form.
: >
: > So what can you do?
: > 1) Get some experience with accessible Flash content so that your
: > expectations are appropriately set.  You should expect accessible Flash
: > content.
: > 2) Do what you've done for inaccessible HTML pages - complain to the
: > developer.  You can point our our "Best Practices for Accessible Flash
: > Design" document at Adobe's accessibility resource center
: > <http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/>.
: > 3) Keep talking on the list.  We are listening to what you have to say
: > and want to help improve the state of affairs.
: > 4) If you are interested in being involved in testing of accessible
: > Flash, let me know. We love user feedback!
: >
: > Examples:
: > Zoot Suit Culture - this is old, but good.  This was the first
: > accessible Flash "movie":
: > http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/eng_sfeature/mx/pop_zoot_mx.html
: > A hangman game - for kids, but they've done good work on it.  One caveat
: > is that you'll want to toggle quick navigation keys off in JAWS:
: > http://www.n-syst.com/Hangman2.html
: > JK Rowling's site - this accessible Flash site is designed as an
: > immersive "exploration", it is designed to feel a little like you are
: > looking around for things because that it the visual experience also.
: > There are audio cues as well as accessible information provided.  If you
: > are familiar with Harry Potter, this will make a lot more sense!:
: > http://www.jkrowling.com/
: >
: > Please let me know how these work for you!
: >
: > Thanks,
: > Andrew
: >
: > Andrew Kirkpatrick
: > Corporate Accessibility Engineering Lead
: > Adobe Systems
: > [log in to unmask]
: >
: >
: >
:
:
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