Blog
January 5, 2009
BarrierBreak launches “BCAT” – A tool to create Accessible Flash based Elearning course
Filed under: Assistive Technologies, Authoring Technologies, Developing Technologies, Elderly, Flash, Hearing, Learning, Mobility, Visual — Shilpi Kapoor @ 9:49 pmRight to education is universal. Education has evolved from blackboard to keyboard. Elearning has broken the geographical barriers and made it possible for people to access knowledge with ease and convenience.
Despite the benefits offered by Elearning, it is not possible for students with special needs to access Elearning courses. Students using assistive technologies can with little ease access HTML based elearning but are deprived of the rich learning experience provided by technologies such as Flash. The common myth that prevails is that ‘Flash cannot be made accessible’ Its time that we over come this myth and change the mind set to ‘Flash can be made Accessible’
Net Systems Informatics & BarrierBreak Technologies have taken the initiative to break this myth and have launched the Beta version of “BarrierBreak Course Authoring Tool (BCAT)”. BCAT is designed and developed to assist teachers/authors in creating accessible Flash based Elearning courses. BCAT is an easy to use tool with in-built keyboard and screen reader support enabling students with disabilities to experience the power of Elearning!
BCAT comprises of two main components, Course Authoring Tool based on Moodle Learning Management System and Flash Architecture to access the course contents. In addition, the teacher/author can add various accessibility options to the course such as: Alternate Text, Captions, and Transcripts.
Once the course is published, the contents are generated in to XML and users can access the course using a Flash player. The Flash course thus created provides users with an “Accessibility Panel” to meet their needs:
- Show/Hide Captions
- Audio Transcript
- Change Themes
- Small/Large Icons
- Show/Hide Labels
- Text Size
We invite users with disabilities, teachers/authors, accessibility community at large to access BCAT and provide their valuable feedback and suggestions to make BCAT a tool for inclusive education.
To access Beta version of BCAT, visit: http://www.n-syst.com/lms/login/signup.php
Once you sign up, you will receive an email including further instructions. Along with the email, you will receive a ReadMe file, documentation for creating a course, documentation for using the course and bug report file.
The Beta Test Run is open until 20th January 2009. All suggestions are highly appreciated and will help us to make BCAT more user-friendly and accessible for all.
peace, veiky
No CommentsApril 4, 2008
Importance of ‘Help’ for Accessibility
Filed under: Flash — Shilpi Kapoor @ 2:18 pmAlthough the topic seems small, ‘Help Screen’ plays an important role in making any application accessible/usable. In our typical developer role we create all the fantastic things in an application, we provide keyboard shortcuts, alternative text for images, descriptions for buttons and images, various ways of handling different things in the course etc… but we forget to pass all of this information to the user. We assume that the user will come to know this when he/she will use the course, which is not fair.
The best way of conveying this information to the user is by providing a ‘Help Screen’.
We must include ALL the information which is beneficial for the users to access the application in a ‘Help Screen’. If we have developed the application catering to various disabilities, we should not hesitate to add an additional help topic for them so that the application becomes practically accessible to them. In case of a screen reader user, we should inform him/her about how to get to the buttons, how to read the alt for a button, if description is provided for a particular object how to access it? What are the different key combinations used by the screen reader to provide the information faster. (e.g.: Insert+Ctrl+G gives the list of all the graphics on the screen). We can’t assume an average screen reader user to know all these shortcuts.
To avoid the confusion, while the user is accessing the help screen, he/she should not have access to rest of the information. For example if a screen reader user is using the help screen and he/she press ‘Insert+F5’ to get the list of controls, he/she should only be presented with the controls on the help screen. This not only applies for help screen but also for other major parts of your flash screen (application). Normally what developers do is, they just make rest of the things disabled by writing simple code. But only disabling is not enough for keeping screen reader away from that information. Screen reader picks up all that stuff even if it’s disabled. We need to think one step ahead and deliver the solution.
We have to give the users what they want and not what we think they need.
And last but not the least; the ‘Help Screen’ has to be completely accessible 
You can have a look at our Hangman game for reference.
peace, veiky
No CommentsMarch 24, 2008
Accessibe Flash – Is this possible?
Filed under: Flash — Shilpi Kapoor @ 6:50 pmI’ve just come back from CSUN, 2008 and again had the same thoughts through most of my meetings. Mos people didnt even think that flash could be made accessible.
I was sitting there and wondering why is this the case? Accessible Flash is surely a possibility and actually is not as painful as most people think it to be. I think largely the problem is not knowin what is possible and then not knowing how to implement it.
I’d suggest people start with checking out some of our examples at http://www.barrierbreak.com/ourshowcase.php. Every example in our showcase has been tested by users using assistive technology.
These examples are only a start point. We will soon showcase an accessible e-learning framework that would show people that everything is possible in Flash and would re-iterate the point that “Accessible Flash is a possibility”
No CommentsFebruary 21, 2008
JAWS keystrokes with Accessible Flash
Filed under: Flash — Shilpi Kapoor @ 5:50 pmI’ve listed down the common keystrokes which JAWS users use to work with flash. We can also use these for testing flash for accessibility.
These keystrokes are available for JAWS 7.0 and above to work with Flash player 8.0 and above.
| Keystroke | Description |
|---|---|
| ARROW keys | To read the text |
| CTRL + HOME | Move to the top of the window |
| CTRL + END | Move to the bottom of the window |
| ENTER | Turn On Forms Mode |
| NUMPAD PLUS (NUMLOCK Off) | Turn off Forms Mode (Virtual cursor on) |
| TAB | Move to the next control |
| SHIFT + TAB | Move to the prior control |
| INSERT + N | Toggles between Navigation quick keys: On, Off and Say All |
| F | Move to and read next form field |
| SHIFT + F | Move to and read prior form field |
| INSERT + F | Form field list |
| G | Move to and read next graphic |
| SHIFT + G | Move to and read previous graphic |
| CTRL + INSERT + G | Graphics list |
| B | Move to and read next button |
| SHIFT + B | Move to and read previous button |
| CTRL + INSERT + B | Buttons list |
| R | Move to and read next radio button |
| SHIFT + R | Move to and read previous radio button |
| CTRL + INSERT + R | Radio buttons list |
| E | Move to and read next edit field |
| CTRL + INSERT + E | Edit field list |
| X | Move to and read next check box |
| SHIFT + X | Move to and read next check box |
| CTRL + INSERT + X | Check boxes list |
peace, veiky
No CommentsDecember 5, 2007
Accessibility support for Flash in Firefox
Filed under: Flash — Shilpi Kapoor @ 11:15 amUsing accessible Flash in Firefox is now possible. Adobe has launched new flash player version 9,0,115,0 which has MSAA support for Firefox. I don’t know the exact results of it with flash. But, I hope it will be consistent like IE or even better.
peace, veiky
No CommentsNovember 30, 2007
Testing Flash for Accessibility
Filed under: Flash — Shilpi Kapoor @ 11:55 amWhen it comes to flash testing, due to the substantial changes happening in the movie there is some sort of uncertainty in the results. After testing the same application several times, you will come to know that the results are varying in certain parameters. Then starts the process of applying alternatives or patching those areas to get consistent results.
In order to test flash with a screen reader, we need to publish the movie in the browser environment (Internet Explorer is best with flash). The knowledge of screen readers is must if developers are planning to test the application, which I strongly believe they should do. It makes our lives so much easy if we on our own can carry out basic test of things we have made, this will reduce more than 50% of the rework caused due to the changes suggested by actual users after testing our stuff. However, always remember, users i.e. people with disabilities will have the final say after testing the flash content. We should start making it a habit of testing a small part as we develop it, so that we find the errors quickly and can fix them immediately.
Common misconception amongst people is that implementing accessibility means making content accessible to the screen readers only, which is NOT true. Testing for accessibility involves much more… checking for the color blind users, keyboard users, learning disabled etc.
So the bottom line is “Develop and test flash keeping all users including people with disabilities in mind”.
peace, veiky
No CommentsOctober 26, 2007
Accessible Flash
Filed under: Flash — Shilpi Kapoor @ 5:58 pmHi, this is my first post on accessible Flash. To start off, we will not go into the complicated stuff, rather I will introduce you to some basic concepts we should think of while making Flash accessible. Flash offers a great deal of accessibility options to the developers. The main part of accessibility in Flash lies in the “Accessibility Panel”, which can be accessed either through the Window menu > Other Panels > Accessibility or by pressing Alt + F2. We can use the Accessibility Panel to provide name, description, tab index and other properties to the various user interface controls offered by Flash.
It’s very important to provide logical tab order to all the controls available on and off the stage. If the content is more on the dynamic side, you should opt for Actionscript to apply the Accessibility Properties at run time.
There are no standard rules, which one can follow to make Flash 100% accessible, but we need to try out the best practices along with certain tricks, alternatives and practical solutions to make it accessible to the level we want. I will be writing a detailed article on the same in coming days. Till then, I am waiting for your questions and feedback…
Remember, the mantra for accessible Flash is to test, test and test!!!
peace, veiky
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