Guidelines: Accessible Flash Applications
The "Should Items" can make access to online materials significantly easier.
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Create documents that validate to published formal grammars. Avoid using slang or regional language in the flash presentation. Besides giving the presentation an unprofessional feel, it also hinders those that may not understand slang or are not familiar with a regional phrase, such as "y'all".
Make text equivalents short and to the point. Avoid providing overly lengthy details about clip art or photographs unless necessary to explain the relevance of the image.
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Speaking order of elements is assigned. The order in which elements are read by the screen reader can be determined by setting the Tab Index value for each element in Flash MX 2004. For other versions of Flash, action script can be used to assign the Tab Index value to elements.
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Text equivalents must make complete sense even out of context. In addition to this descriptions must be concise.
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Input elements must be placed close to their labels. This ensures that there is no error when the screen reader reads out the elements and correct grouping is understood.
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Closed Captioning for Flash. For any time-based multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track) with the presentation. This can be done by using a tool called MAGPie.
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Create Flash Movies with Large Font Sizes for important information. When creating flash movies try and set apart information with greater importance from the rest by using larger print and headings.
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Avoid Visual Effects. Effects like clear images appearing from blurred ones should be avoided.
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Provide Keyboard Shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts can be provided by using action scripting to make movies accessible to students that cannot click navigational elements with precision.
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