FlashAid

On Internet Explorer running under Windows, FlashAid will inform JavaScript whether the user has a screen reader that is actively communicating with the browser. It achieves this by using a hidden (1 pixel x 1 pixel) Flash application.

Demonstration

You either do not have the Flash plugin installed or SWFObject could not detect it.

Usage instructions

  1. Include the js/flashAid.js script
  2. Create a <div> with id="flashAid". If you want alternative content to display if Flash cannot be loaded, place it into this div.
  3. Inside your div, call the flashAid() method and pass it the names (as String instances) of your callback functions. The signature of the flashAid() method is:

    flashAid ( successCallback, failureCallback, displayVersionMessage )

    Where displayVersionMessage is a boolean value that determines whether or not a message will be displayed in the FlashAid div if the user has the wrong version of the Flash Player. (FlashAid requires Flash Player 8 and above.)

Code sample

<script type="text/javascript">
    // <![CDATA[
        flashAid("successHandler", "failureHandler", true);
    // ]]>
</script>       

Credits

Based on an idea by Jeremy Keith, as discussed by Andy, Simon and the rest of the gang at a lovely beach barbecue in Brighton. Written by Aral Balkan with accessibility research and testing by Niqui Merret.

License

Copyright (c) 2006 Aral Balkan. Released under the open source MIT license.