Until the release of Macromedia Flash MX, Flash content had been woefully inaccessible to users who required screen readers or were hearing impaired. Now the Flash Player can communicate with screen reader software and other assistive devices to convey visual content.
Flash MX 2004 includes accessibility support in the authoring environment, as well, with keyboard shortcuts for navigating and interface controls, enabling you to use the interface without using the mouse.
Also new in Flash MX 2004 is a new generation of components that offers better accessibility through improved tab focus management and improved support for third-party screen readers and closed-caption programs.
To help designers and developers ensure that Rich Internet Applications are accessible, Macromedia Flash Player 7 and Macromedia Flash MX 2004 include support for updating and generating the accessibility properties via ActionScript. This enables applications to update accessibility information as the content changes.
