VI. How To?
6.4. Page Design
6.4.5. Flash
Flash is a technology developed by Adobe; this technology allows the developer to create animations which cannot be made with any other web technology. However, because of the way Flash animations are built they are generally very inaccessible. Until the 6th version of Flash, screen readers were no able to access the content of a Flash animation and were thus invisible to blind users. Nowadays, screen readers are able to access this content, but Flash animation remains very difficult to make accessible. In 2005, Adobe released a white paper: Best Practice for Accessible Flash Design; the recommendation made in it are very close to the WCAG 1.0 recommendations:
- Provide text equivalent;
- Avoid blinking and distractive movements;
- Ensure keyboard access;
- Provide captions... (Regan, 2005).
Denis Boudreau notes that “to be considered accessible, a Flash document should:
- Be interpreted and used by a screen reader;
- Implement all best practices relevant to its content;
- Offer an experience similar to the one offered to a “typical” user.
Or at least, offer a text-based alternative version with an equivalent content” (Boudreau, 2007).
Following the best practices given by Adobe may make a Flash document more accessible, but ever as much accessible as a HTML page would be. Especially in the case of low-sighted people who need to increase the size of fonts and do not wish to use magnifiers, this is simply impossible in Flash; developer may add a button allowing the users to increase the size, but this solution is very limited as a font size as to be specified, a font size that may not be sufficient for the low-sight user.
However, Flash can also be an accessible solution for people with learning deficiencies or children. Indeed animated exercises or lectures, for example, will generally attract more focus from them; which can be a vector or learning for them.
In any case a Flash content should always come with an HTML version.