Flash Accessibility, detect screen reader

Question

I'm working on making a SWF application accessible for visually impaired people who use JAWS or Windows Eyes. I installed both JAWS and Windows Eyes demo versions.

When running my swf (locally) in a browser on a html page, Capabilities.hasAccessibility turns out true, but Accessibility.active turns out false, every time - even when checking it after a couple of seconds.

Is it because I am using demo versions or am I just missing out on something like setting a parameter for SWFObject perhaps?

Answer 1

It is great that you have figured out the issues, but for future reference for other readers, The demo versions of jaws or Window eyes do not have any limitations. They are identical to the registered version. The only limit is the time you are allowed to use it. A restart is required after 40 minutes in the case of Jaws.

Answer 2

okay I figured it out

1. wmode may not be set to transparent, it will hide the swfobject for screenreaders.

2. swfobject needs to be focused like so:

   swfobject.addLoadEvent(setFocusOnFlash);

   function setFocusOnFlash() { var fl = document.getElementById("loader"); if (fl) { fl.focus(); }

   }