# Captivate and accessibility

You can create output that is compliant with Section 508 for users who have visual or hearing impairments, mobility impairments, or other types of disabilities. You can also take steps at the design level to remove obstacles for people with disabilities viewing your Captivate projects.

These solutions support government agencies in meeting their users' needs through Section 508 compliance, as well as companies who are committed to improving accessibility.

##### What is Section 508 compliance?

Section 508 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requiring that Federal agencies develop, maintain, acquire, or use electronic and information technology to make the systems accessible to people with disabilities. The most recent (1998) version of Section 508 establishes enforceable, government-wide standards.

##### What does "accessible" mean?

In general, an information technology system is accessible for people with disabilities if it can be used in a variety of ways that do not depend on a single sense or ability. For example, users should be able to navigate with a keyboard, in addition to a mouse (not with a mouse only). Also, the visual and auditory elements of a user interface must accommodate both hearing impaired and visually impaired users.

##### What other types of assistive software do end users need?

Screen readers or text-to-speech utilities (which read the contents of the active window, menu options, or text you have typed) and screen review aids translate onscreen text to speech or to a dynamic, refreshable, Braille display. This assistive technology can provide keyboard assistance or shortcuts, captions for speech and sound, and visual warnings such as flashing toolbars. A few tools available include Microsoft Windows 2000 Narrator, Connect Outloud, and JAWS (Job Access With Speech).

##### What does Captivate do to be Section 508 compliant?

Selecting the 508 compliance option makes certain elements in Captivate projects accessible or open to accessibility technology. For example, if you select the 508 option and you have filled in the movie name and movie description fields in Movie Properties, a screen reader will read the name and description when the Captivate SWF file is played.

The following Captivate elements are accessible when the 508 compliance option is selected:

- Movie name (derived from Movie Properties)

- Movie description (derived from Movie Properties)

- Slide notes (derived from Slide Properties)

- Slide label (derived from Slide Properties)

- Captions

- Rollover captions

- Click boxes (hint caption, success caption, and failure caption text is read by screen readers)

- Text entry boxes (hint caption, success caption, and failure caption text is read by screen readers)

- Buttons (button text, hint caption, success caption, and failure caption text is read by screen readers)

- Playback controls (function of each button is read by screen readers)

- Password protection (if a Captivate SWF file is password protected, the prompt for a password is read by screen readers)

- Question slides (title, question, answers, button text, and scoring report are read by screen readers)

Also, when the 508 compliance option is selected in Captivate, navigation with the tab key and arrow keys is supported. These are important navigation alternatives to using the mouse.

Notes:
Output generated with the Section 508 option will be displayed with all supported browsers. However, your output may not be Section 508 compliant unless it is viewed with Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is the only browser with support for MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility).
To access Flash content using a screen reader, users need to have Flash Player 6 or later installed.
The Access Board is an independent Federal agency committed to accessibility for people with disabilities. For more information about making your output compliant, see the Access Board's Web site (http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm).