Yet Still Have Flash!
Some common handicaps can affect a users ability to access a Web site: color blindness, repetitive stress injury, auditory impairments, visual impairments, memory impairments, mobility impairments, cognitive disability, attention deficit disorder, and seizure disorder. To be considered accessible according to the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, a Web site needs to adhere to the following guidelines:
Graphics or multimedia must have text labels or descriptors that describe what
would have been seen.
Information conveyed by color must also be available when color is missing.
Table rows and columns must have headers that identify the data clearly.
Frames must have titles so that they can be identified and navigated when they
are not being seen.
Screen flicker must not be at a rate between 2 and 55 Hz
The use of advanced technologies to provide functionality, present a page, or
control form input, must also be accompanied by a means for these functions to
be performed using assistive technologies.
The use of time limits for user response must be accompanied by an alert
system and a means to request more time.
Macromedia Flash software can still be used to enhance Web sites that are
compliant with current accessibility standards. Consistency and standardization
are the two most important factors to remember when designing Web sites. These
two components make accessibility design/adaptation less complex. For blind PC
users, screen readers read objects in a Flash movie, translating what is
happening on the screen into words. For users with low vision or color
blindness, using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) offer significant benefits for
accessibility. When site text is formatted with CSS, users can override styles
to format text to meet their needs. This allows users with limited vision or
colorblindness to change the size or color of text. Other disabilities can be
compensated for, as well, and still allow the use of Flash in Web design.
According to Macromedia.com, If you are a web designer new to Flash
accessibility, it is best to keep in mind that the biggest challenge to creating
accessible rich media may not be the technical aspect, but rather the mental.
Understanding how people with disabilities use the Web is the bigger challenge
for designers.
Resources:
Cameron, Carolee. Web Design Concepts and Best Practices. St. Paul: EMCParadigm,
2004. 181-201
Macromedia.com: Accessibility White Papers