I suspect this would be very difficult and of limited use. Even on
the most accessible flash presentations the most you can hope for is
to be able to read/hear the text and navigate/activate any buttons etc
- they are not going to be able to make the video/animation or
graphics stuff accessible - at least not automatically - this would
require audio descriptions, which are difficult to generate unless the
author provides them in the first place. Sorry to be so negative, I am
just not sure how much value flash adds over audio/screen-reading etc,
it is by it's very nature highly visual and I don't think there is
much we can do about it - other that ask people to provide alternative
ways of accessing the information etc.
On 9/1/10, Michael Whapples<address@hidden> wrote:
Hello,
Now I don't know whether what I am going to suggest would fit with the
GNU ideas on free software, but one of the things which as a blind user
I am unable to do on a GNU Linux system is access flash content on the
web. Now would it be appropriate for GNU/FSF to support getting
accessibility in a plugin such as gnash or swfdec? OK, I think I may
have answered my own question as I was going to check the license for
gnash and the debian package has gnash's home page being at gnu.org, I
wasn't sure whether supporting what I believe is a proprietary system
(that's what I thought flash itself was) would be appropriate.
I am suggesting this route as: it saves us having to pressure and rely
on adobe to make the change and anyway that would be supporting a
proprietary system as the adobe plugin isn't free software. Trying to
convince web developers not to use flash wouldn't be great as it makes
free software look lacking compared to proprietary systems on windows
and I am sure there would always be someone who would choose to stick
with flash on their website. By making gnash accessible it would mean
that the free software solution has something over the adobe plugin and
they may need to hang there head in shame in the accessibility area (if
they aren't already for the gaping hole they have in accessibility on
platforms other than windows).
Now I wonder, does this idea take anyone's fancy? I have to say
technically I probably wouldn't be able to do much, but I certainly
would be happy to help someone with testing this.
Michael Whapples
_______________________________________________
Accessibility mailing list
address@hidden
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/accessibility