Re: Spiffing up UC websites? [Accessibility using Flash]

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From: Aron Roberts (aron@socrates.berkeley.edu)
Date: Fri Nov 22 2002 - 13:37:34 PST


   One other comment about accessibility to the content of the Flash
presentations on the News pages on the main UC Berkeley site: either
by vision-impaired visitors using screen reader software or, more
generally, by visitors using browsers which are text-based or
otherwise lack Flash plug-in support.

   In several of the presentations on these pages mentioned yesterday
by Steve McConnell, if one views the generated source in the pop-up
browser window meant to display their multimedia content, their full
text appears in an HTML comment. Two examples appear below.

Aron Roberts
Workstation Software Support Group

P.S. There were some anomalies in these text comments: a number of
non-7-bit ASCII characters appeared in this text, which I've somewhat
crudely converted below before posting these comments to the Webnet
list.

   Perhaps these characters were em- or en-dashes, curly quotes, or
other similar typographers' marks, which were specific to an
operating system-specific character set under Microsoft Windows or
the Mac OS? If so, that may be another accessibility issue to be
aware of ...

--
<!-- text used in the movie-->
<!--Chang-Lin Tien1935 c2002BerkeleyPhotos 1 c 6Remembering 
Berkeley's Chang-Lin TienIn more than four decades as professor and 
chancellor, Chang-Lin Tien was a tireless ambassador for UC Berkeley. 
Under his leadership, Berkeley weathered devastating budget cuts and 
intense political controversy to retain its place as the nation's 
premier public research university. His contributions to research, 
education and society brought him scores of honors over the years. A 
favorite with students, Tien was omnipresent in their campus lives. 
HeId drop into the library at midnight during finals week, bearing 
cookies for studiers. HeId swing by the residence halls to see how 
students were getting along. HeId settle in the midst of the student 
rooting section at sports events, indistinguishable in his 
blue-and-gold rugby shirt. At a tribute event marking his retirement 
in 1997, students crowded around to wish him well. Peg Skorpinski 
photoA lifelong sports fan, Tien (center, kneeling) played basketball 
in Taiwan in the early 1950s. He had his sights set on a pro career, 
and often half-joked that he abandoned the dream only after coming to 
the United States, where he realized that at 5I6", he was not 
destined for the NBA. Tien was a fixture at Cal basketball games, 
leading cheers from his center-court seat in Harmon Gym. He was a 
driving force in planning and fund-raising for Haas Pavilion, the Cal 
sports arena that opened in 1999.4Fresh from his doctoral studies at 
Princeton, Tien joined the Berkeley faculty in mechanical engineering 
in 1959. Three years later, at age 26, he became the youngest 
recipient of UC Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award. He later 
served for seven years as chair of the Department of Mechanical 
Engineering and for two years as vice chancellor for research. After 
a brief stint as executive vice chancellor at UC Irvine, he returned 
to Berkeley as chancellor in 1990. Ed Kirwan photoEven as his career 
broadened to international leadership in higher education, Tien 
maintained close ties to engineering research and his home department 
in Etcheverry Hall. An authority on thermal science and engineering, 
his expertise in heat transfer led him to contribute to solutions of 
high-profile engineering problems. He continued to supervise Ph.D. 
students in mechanical engineering throughout his years as 
chancellor. Tien met the press after his appointment as the seventh 
chancellor of UC Berkeley in 1990. He was the first Asian American to 
head a major U.S. research university. He led the campus through lean 
budget years, dedicating himself to preserving excellence by 
personally recruiting top young faculty and working to retain 
distinguished professors. The campus endured, earning top-ten 
rankings for 97 percent of its graduate programs in a 1995 National 
Research Council survey. Jane Scherr photo-->
[This text comment is immediately followed by the HTML 'object' tag 
referencing the Flash presention, as shown below -- Aron]
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
  codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
  WIDTH="624" HEIGHT="440" id="slideshow_pt1" ALIGN="">
  <param NAME=movie VALUE="slideshow_pt1.swf"> <param NAME=quality 
VALUE=high> <param NAME=bgcolor VALUE=#FFFFFF> <embed 
src="slideshow_pt1.swf" quality=high bgcolor=#FFFFFF  WIDTH="624" 
HEIGHT="440" NAME="slideshow_pt1" ALIGN=""
  TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" 
PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
</object>
---------------------------------------------------------------
<!--Homecoming & Parents Weekend2002Berkeley1Photos 1 c 6Homecoming & 
Parents Weekend Peg Skorpinski photoHomecoming Headquarters was the 
place to begin for the more than 6,000 participants in the biggest 
Homecoming & Parents Weekend yet. In the shadow of the Campanile, 
alumni, students and families could view class memorabilia and 
photos; buy a t-shirt; sign up for @cal, the online alumni community; 
enjoy free coffee and snacks, and meet up with friends new and 
old.Alumni, parents, students and friends were greeted on arrival by 
volunteers like Dilip Chande of Brea and Dolly and Judge Brar of 
Fresno, all members of the Cal Parents Board.3Chancellor Robert M. 
Berdahl prepared for the busy, Bears-y weekend by getting a 
California Alumni Association "tattoo" on his cheek at the CAA 
booth.4The Class of I52 celebrated their 50th reunion with tours, a 
lecture by Professor Marian Diamond, and a buffet dinner in the 
Morrison Room of Doe Library. Marie Matthews I52 and her husband Ed 
came from Princeton, N.J., for the weekend and were welcomed home by 
Oski.The MenIs Octet made the rounds of alumni and parent events, 
bringing high spirits and sweet harmonies wherever they went. 
Founding member Howdy Brownson I48 joined them at the luncheon held 
by the Classes of I48 and I49.A record number of Cal students 
participated in this yearIs event. As Student Ambassadors, they did 
everything from staffing information booths to putting on the Cal 
CubFest for the weekendIs littlest guests.  Amy Lei I03 stirred up 
business for the balloon artist by modeling a balloon hat.-->
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