FLASH CS3
User Guide
353
You cannot control how any screen reader behaves; you can control only the content, which you can mark up in your
Flash applications to expose the text and ensure that screen reader users can activate the controls. You decide which
objects in the Flash application are exposed to screen readers, provide descriptions for them, and decide the order
in which they are exposed to screen readers. You cannot force screen readers to read specific text at specific times or
control the manner in which that content is read. Test your applications with a variety of screen readers to ensure
that they perform as you expect.
See also
“Create and name a keyboard shortcut” on page 361
“Using Flash to enter accessibility information for screen readers” on page 355
Platform requirements
You can only create Flash content designed for use with screen readers with Windows platforms. Viewers of Flash
content must have Macromedia Flash® Player 6 from Adobe or later and Internet Explorer on Windows 98 or later.
Flash and Microsoft Active Accessibility (Windows only)
Flash Player is optimized for Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA), which provides a descriptive and standardized
way for applications and screen readers to communicate. MSAA is available only for Windows operating systems.
For more information on Microsoft Accessibility Technology, visit the Microsoft Accessibility website at
www.microsoft.com/enable/default.aspx
.
The Windows ActiveX (Internet Explorer plug-in) version of Flash Player 6 supports MSAA, but Windows Netscape
and Windows stand-alone players do not.
Important:
MSAA is currently not supported in the opaque windowless and transparent windowless modes. (These
modes are options in the HTML Publish Settings panel, available for use with the Windows version of Internet Explorer
4.0 or later, with the Flash ActiveX control.) To make your Flash content accessible to screen readers, avoid using these
modes.
Flash Player makes information about the following types of accessibility objects available to screen readers that use
MSAA.
Dynamic or static text
The principal property of a text object is its name. To comply with MSAA conventions, the
name is equal to the contents of the text string. A text object can also have an associated description string. Flash
uses the static or dynamic text immediately above or to the left of an input text field as a label for that field.
Note:
Any text that is a label is not passed to a screen reader, but is used as the name of the object that it labels. Labels
are never assigned to buttons or text fields that have author-supplied names.
Input text fields
Have a value, an optional name, a description string, and a keyboard shortcut string. An input text
object’s name can come from a text object that is above or to the left of it.
Buttons
Have a state (pressed or not pressed), support a programmatic default action that causes the button to
depress momentarily, and optionally have a name, a description string, and a keyboard-shortcut string. Flash uses
any text entirely inside a button as a label for that button.
Note:
For accessibility purposes, Flash Player considers movie clips used as buttons with button event handlers such as
onPress
to be buttons, not movie clips.
Components
Provide special accessibility implementation.
