you can look at the discussion at:
http://www.w3.org/wai/ig/
in the email archives in which there is also another article that points
out some things the wired article misses.  You will also see info from
the accessibility manager for macro media that sounds promising
----- Original Message -----
From: "Schmetzke, Axel" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 12:42 PM
Subject: FW: FLASH BECOMES ACCESSIBLE


I just received the message below about FLASH becoming accessible.

Any comments on this and the article in Wired News, 23 April 2002,
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,51638,00.html? Is it as good as
it sounds?
Axel

******************
Axel Schmetzke
Library
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

-----Original Message-----
From: Arneson, Arne
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 11:05 AM
To: Schmetzke, Axel; Becker, Pamela
Subject: FLASH BECOMES ACCESSIBLE

Yes!!!


FLASH BECOMES ACCESSIBLE
Macromedia's Flash application is often the tool of choice for
developers who want catchy, animated Web pages, but until recently Flash
was inaccessible to users with disabilities. Until Flash MX was released
last month, screen readers, which make Web page content available to
blind users, could not read Flash content. Even with the new release
there was no easy way to add captions for the deaf. Jason Smith,
technical director at the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, wanted to use Flash to build an educational science site for
children but wanted the content to be accessible for users with
disabilities. He built a captioning tool that allows developers to
create caption XML files, which run as part of the animation. Macromedia
has purchased the tool from Smith and will make it available as a free
download within a month. Wired News, 23 April 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,51638,00.html