Thomas (et al.), Flash is much like Java in that it's a programming language/environment with a virtual machine. The makers of Flash (Macromedia, eventually purchased by Adobe) put in accessibility hooks so that programmers can take advantage of those, but like with Java and other programming environments, if the programmers don't take advantage of those accessibility hooks, then it results in a (mostly) inaccessible application.
Because it's a programming language/environment, the .FLA files aren't just the media, but they are the media bundled with graphics, video, code (the actual code is ActionScript, a cousin of JavaScript), data, etc. or those programs can download additional external resources. For that reason, the .FLA file might not have the media to be extracted, or it might have the media but need the program logic to decode/decrypt the media. So the .FLA file is more like a .JAR file for Java or a .ZIP file elsewhere, bundling lots of stuff together along with some conventions about how to execute it. If you have a .SWF or .FLV file, those are specifically videos designed to be played within a Flash application, so you can use a media-extractor such as "ffmpeg" or "swfextract" (usually in the "swftools" package) on Linux to convert/extract the media to a format such as .MP3 that is more readily playable. Hope that was helpful and clears things up, -tim On 2015-01-10 11:30, Thomas Ward wrote: > Hi Michael, > > If you want specific reasons for why Flash accessibility works in > some instances and not in others you are going to have to ask the > experts. By that I mean the makers of Jaws and Window-Eyes directly > as I don't honestly know the technical reasons for why the > accessibility is the way it is. Although, I can give an educated > guess. > > I have a feeling that the Flash user interface, the way graphical > controls are displayed, work differently in a web browser than in a > standard lone application. Again, I don't know this for certain, but > it would be a logical guess. It is even possible that Adobe helped > facilitate access for Flash in web browsers but not in stand alone > applications. > > All I can say for certain is there is probably some logical > explanation for why accessibility problems for Flash applications > exists, and if you want more information then you are going to have > to go to the people who would be in the know. I'm just an average > programmer who happens to know a bit about how the accessibility on > his computer works, but am not privy to specific details about every > technology out there. So I'm afraid you've gotten all the > information on this subject you can get out of me. > > Cheers! > > > On 1/10/15, Michael Gauler <michael.gau...@gmx.de> wrote: > > That is sadly true. > > But in the case of Flash, I still don't get what the problem is. > > When I want to listen to a piece of classical music on a > > computer, I can use > > > > Winamp, VLC or Windows Media player. > > The user interface of any of the players is different. > > But the song remains the same. > > No player alters the used instruments or the speed at which they > > are played. > > The song in this example remains the same. > > A flash file should be like a song for this example. > > If JAWS or Window Eyes can read a flash file in a web browser, > > then I'd like > > > > to know why the same can't be done with the stand alone Flash > > player module. > > And if Adobe helped making PDF files accessible, then they must > > also have done something to make Flash in web pages partially > > accessible. If they had done nothing, we would be totally unable > > to interact with Flash. > > If there some form of allthough limited or partial support > > exists, the question would be why it was never expanded to also > > work with the stand alone player module. > > And please keep in mind that such companies as CodeFactory, > > allthough they probably had sighted members, made such active > > content with their games and > > > > used a stand alone player module as the main executable program > > on their CDs. > > The only difference is that they did use Director now known as > > Adobe Shockwave. > > > > > > --- > > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of > > the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update > your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All > messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any > questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please > send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
