Accessible Flash Content for the blind

Question

I am working on a browser project for the blind in my university. For swf files, I am trying to access the contents of an SWF and parse so that screen readers can use it to read it aloud. I was successfully able to extract static text using swfutils.jar from inside the Flex SDK. But I was wondering if the following i spossible : Given a flash webform, I should be able to move the through the fields using 'Tab' and then read out the buttons ( by extracting associated text), and read it aloud so that the user can click the required button.. I hope I am clear with my problem description..

Thanks in advance..

Answer 1

The short answer is that yes, this is possible in Flash/Flex, and the key things you need to do in your code are:

1. Enable Accessibility in your application.
2. Give your components a specified tabIndex value.

There is a wealth of information about Accessibility in the Adobe documentation, and while it isn't often well-organized or up-to-date, a healthy dose of googling around the related community sites will produce the practical techniques you need.

Note, however, that the target screen reader for the Flex framework is JAWS, the flawed-but-market-dominant Windows screen reading software implementing the MSAA standard. Flex has no built-in support for any other accessibility standards or software.

Answer 2

I found this page by Niqui Merret very useful: http://niquimerret.com/?p=94

It hasn't been updated for a while but I recently found that all the information there is still pertinant. I won't repeat what Niqui has said but what I found was that IE was the only realistic browser for screen readers such as JAWS, Windows Eyes and Dolphin.

In future projects, until the support and communication between flash and screen readers is improved, I plan to manaully create a "Read Aloud" button that when toggled "On" reads the button or field names/descriptions as the user moves through them. (i.e. Plays a sound clip recorded by me.) At the moment I see this as the only cross-browser/AIR implementation of accesible flash for visually impaired people.