|
 Creating
Accessible Content and
Applications with
AccRepairŽ for use with
Flash™ MX 2004 and Flash
8
by Adam Laflamme
HiSoftware Engineering
Services Team
The
Internet has become an
increasingly easy way to
publish and find
information.
Increasingly, Web
developers are providing
this information in
multimedia format
through technologies
that deliver rich
multi-sensory
presentations. Until
recently this
information was not
accessible to all
Internet users. Some
users rely on
third-party solutions,
assistive technologies,
to translate information
to them. Today there
are accessibility
standards and guidelines
that Web developers can
follow to ensure that
users of assistive
technologies can access
their Internet
presentations. Captions
provide the ability for
users, who do not have
the ability to access
the audio portion of a
multimedia presentation,
to still grasp its
content. This tutorial
will introduce the
reader to the processes
required for validation
and remediation of Flash
content and
applications. To follow
this tutorial, you will
need HiSoftware
AccRepair for use with
Flash MX 2004 and Flash
MX 2004 and/or Flash 8.
Contents
Why you should develop
accessible
AccRepair for use with
MacromediaŽ Flash™ MX
Getting Started
Add
a Valid License Code
How to use the Text
Equivalency Test
How to use the Static
Text Utilities
How to use the Tab
Order Utilities
Other Resources
About HiSoftware
Why you should develop
accessible
According to the US
Census Bureau, December
1997 U.S. Census brief,
one in five Americans
have some kind of legal
disability. The people
impacted by these
disabilities may require
assistive technologies
to access information.
For example, if you are
blind, you might use an
automated screen reader
which would read aloud
the information on your
computer screen. In
order for a screen
reader to describe
images and other
elements to a user, this
information must be
available to the screen
reader as a text
alternative.
Many
Flash authors use
animations and sounds to
convey information.
These elements and
techniques pose similar
access problems for
disabled users.
Descriptive information
that can be processed by
the assistive technology
must be available for
the information to be
accessible.
In
addition to
accessibility standards
for images and
multimedia elements,
there are standards that
allow users to view and
easily use pages even
when their browsers and
assistive technologies
do not support advanced
display options.
Compliance with
accessibility standards
not only assists users
of assistive
technologies, but also
can improve access for
hand-held and wireless
devices. While many of
the accessibility
features, when
implemented, directly
benefit users with
disabilities, the
features also benefit
everyone else. For
example, having a
complete TabIndex is
necessary for anyone not
using a mouse to access
each feature in a Flash
document.
AccRepairŽ for use
with MacromediaŽ Flash™
MX 2004
AccRepair for Flash
makes it significantly
easier for users to
create rich multimedia
Web experiences that are
also accessible,
allowing them to be used
fully by the widest
audience. AccRepair for
Flash allows for fast
and efficient testing
and remediation of the
accessibility of Flash
multimedia.
AccRepair for Flash
steps users through
several tests that allow
them to validate that
their Flash presentation
is accessible, providing
a facility for
developers to correct
accessibility issues in
an interactive manner.
The
solution provides an
interactive interface
through which Flash
developers can create
presentations that will
conform to recommended
accessibility
guidelines. HiSoftware
AccRepairŽ for use with
Macromedia Flash MX 2004
will dramatically reduce
the time, cost, and
complexity associated
with building, testing,
repairing and deploying
accessible Flash
content.
Getting Started
For
the tutorial we will use
the sample media files
that can be downloaded
from the HiSoftware web
site (see the link
provided at the top of
this tutorial).
In
this tutorial you will:
-
Install the AccRepair
for Flash Extension
-
Test a Flash File (FLA)
for Accessibility
-
Modify the Flash
movie, using the
AccRepair for Flash
Extension, to make it
accessible
-
Be
introduced to some
accessibility
guidelines
Installing AccRepair for
use with Flash into
Macromedia Flash MX 2004
In
order to use this
AccRepair for Flash
Extension you must
install it (if you have
not done so already).
If you have not
installed the extension,
follow the simple
installation
instructions below.
Installation of the
AccRepair for Flash MX
2004 Extension
1.
Locate the AccRepair.mxp
file located in the root
of the Zip file that you
downloaded.
2.
After locating the
AccRepair.mxp file,
double-click on it to
use the Macromedia
Extension Manager to
install the AccRepair
Panel into Flash.
Note: To access this
extension for the first
time select: Window |
Other Panels | AccRepair
for Flash, from the
Flash Main Menu.
Add a
Valid License Code
When
you open the AccRepair
panel for the first time
you will see a message
box:
***
Note: code is invalid in
image.
Enter your valid code
and select OK. If you
enter an invalid code,
you will enter AccRepair
for Flash in trial
mode. To enter a valid
key, close the AccRepair
panel and open it
again. Once a valid
code has been entered
you will not be prompted
again.
How to use the Text
Equivalency Test
The
Text Equivalency Test is
used to find and repair
objects that are not
accessible within your
Flash document. It will
search your document and
ActionScript for all
objects that fail the
accessibility test. You
will then be able to
repair the objects.
-
Open the demonstration
Flash file (DemoFLA.fla)
in Macromedia Flash MX
2004.
-
Select Window | Other
Panels | AccRepair for
Flash from the Flash
Main Menu. The
AccRepair for Flash
panel works the same
as any other panel in
Flash; you can move it
around, dock it, and
resize it.
-
Make sure you have Run
Text Equivalency Test
selected and hit the
[Run Test] button.
-
You will see a list of
items appear in the
"Objects That Fail:"
box. Each line is an
object that's not
accessible. The
Instance name is
provided in each
line. If the object
has no Instance name,
[Unamed] will be in
the line.
-
You can now select an
object from the
"Objects That Fail"
list. This will
select the item in
Flash and load any
existing Accessibility
properties in the
Accessibility
Properties window.
You can select the
[Clear All] button to
remove all files from
the "Objects That
Fail" list.
-
You can now make the
object accessible by
filling out the
Accessibility Name and
Description fields.
The Accessibility Name
should be a short
description of the
item (similar to "alt
text" for an image
displayed on the
web). For example, if
there is a button that
looks like the
following:
You could put "Play My
Flash Movie" in the
Accessibility Name.
The Description field
is used for providing
a longer and more
in-depth description
of the item. If you
had a button that
looked like the
following:
You could put "Play!"
as the Accessibility
Name and "Sneaker in
front of a basketball
with Play! in bottom
left corner" as the
Description. A screen
reader will read both
the Accessibility Name
and the Description.
-
Now that your fields
are filled out you can
move on to the next
item or you can select
[Run Test] again and
filter out items which
have Accessibility
Properties. To make
child objects
accessible, make sure
"Make Child Objects
Accessible" is checked
and fill out the
Accessibility Name and
Description fields.
If you do not want an
item to be accessible,
you can uncheck the
"Make Object
Accessible to Screen
Readers" option.
-
When all items have
been repaired "No
Objects Failed this
Test" will appear
after running the
test.
How to use the Static
Text Utilities
-
With your DemoFLA.fla
file open in
Macromedia Flash MX
2004 and the AccRepair
for Flash panel open,
select Run the Tab
Order Utility.
-
Select [Load Static
Text].
-
Once all Static text
objects are loaded,
select [Convert Static
Text] to change all
Static text objects
into Dynamic text
objects.
Note: There are design
considerations in
converting Static text
to Dynamic text. To
maintain the same
quality you may want to
consider using a graphic
with appropriate
accessibility properties
instead of text.
Another option is to
include the Fonts for
the Dynamic text. To
minimize impact on the
size of the Flash
document, only embed the
specific characters used
by that Font.
How to use the Tab Order
Utilities
-
With your DemoFLA.fla
file open in
Macromedia Flash MX
2004 and the AccRepair
for Flash panel open,
select Run the Tab
Order Utility.
-
Select [Run Test] to
test for items that
are missing TabIndex.
-
A
list of objects that
do not have TabIndexes
or contain an error is
displayed. If there
is no TabIndex, the
line will read: ** No
TabIndex: Scene 1,
Layer 1, Frame 1,
TextArea. Some others
errors include: "Error
- Instance name
required" and "Error -
Static text object
found." All objects
must have an Instance
name and must be
Dynamic before they
can have a TabIndex.
-
Correct any errors
that are found. All
errors must be fixed
before being able to
build the ActionScript
code. See
How to use Static Text
Utilities text for
more information.
-
You can now determine
the order of the
TabIndexes by
selecting each item
and using the [Move
Up] and [Move Down]
buttons. Remember,
when you select an
item in the AccRepair
panel it is also
selected in Flash
allowing you to build
logical TabIndexes.
-
Once you are satisfied
with the order of
objects, select [Build
ActionScript]. This
will build the
required ActionScript
code and place it on
your system
clipboard. Now you
can paste this code
into your Flash
document.
Other Resources
More
information on AccRepair
for use with Macromedia
Flash:
http://www.hisoftware.com/accrepair_flash/index.html
More
information on
Macromedia Flash:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/
Other HiSoftware
products for
Accessibility and
Content Quality:
http://www.hisoftware.com/products/products.htm
Product Information
AccRepair for Flash,
Text Equiv,
Tab Order, Interface, Tutorial
ABOUT HISOFTWARE
HiSoftware Company, the
leader in enterprise
content quality
management solutions,
provides innovative
products that empower
quality assurance teams,
content developers, Web
site architects, and
company executives to
work collaboratively on
their efforts to create
and manage corporate Web
standards for
Accessibility, Privacy,
Searchability, Usability
and custom guidelines
and policies.
HiSoftware’s integrated,
full lifecycle solutions
dramatically reduce the
time required to test,
manage and deploy
e-business Web sites.
HiSoftware works closely
with industry leaders
and visionaries to
provide solutions for
today's information
accessibility, content
quality, search and
retrieval needs.
HiSoftware’s customers
represent Fortune 500
companies, and many of
the largest e-commerce,
government, and
educational sites in
North America and around
the world.
Founded in 1998,
HiSoftware Company
maintains North American
corporate headquarters
in Nashua, New
Hampshire. Further
information about
HiSoftware can be found
online at
www.hisoftware.com
Macromedia and Flash are
trademarks or registered
trademarks of
Macromedia, Inc. in the
United States and/or
other countries.
Printer Friendly
Version... |
