Date: August 6, 2003
Speaker:
DL Byron — Technical Producer, TexturaDesign

Flash and accessibility, two words that don’t often play together well. Byron, a nationally recognized web developer, demonstrates, on his own site, working examples of making a site accessible, standards based and incorporating the latest technology. Byron reveals how CSS, XHTML, and Flash MX all coordinate to create a site that creates a usable and engaging experience.

As designers and developers, we hear and read much about making a web site accessible, practical, and cod- ing it with standards (hopefully you do). Byron will pre- sent a working example: how he did it, what is was like, and a review of the code. The talk grows out of an article about Flash accessibility. He will expand on that experi- ence and review development of an entire site and show Flash MX accessibility, CSS, and XHTML, all in one site.

“In that effort, I spent a day learning how to make Flash accessible,” he said. “That included downloading a screen reader called Window-Eyes (from GW Micro, Inc.) and freaking myself out with it for awhile. The reader voice was similar to that of Stephen Hawking (who has his own accessible site). Yes, the Stephen Hawking Speak and Spell voice. It was like having him here with me narrating my website.”

Byron produces award-winning, internationally recognized work and has been nominated for a prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Media Fellow- ship. With nine years of experience, he is an industry-leading expert in Web development, standards, and accessibility. An entrepreneur and an inventor, he also publishes independent media and is currently producing interactive projects at Methodologie.

Program Flyer