Skills for Access

Why this is important

Animated content can greatly enhance the experience provided by multimedia content. However, media content that changes unexpectedly - by scrolling, flickering or flashing, or otherwise moving around, can also cause some people significant access problems.

People with certain visual impairments, and who may be using a screen reader or screen magnifier, may be unable to detect that content has changed or moved; this may also be the situation for people accessing the resource using a device with limited display capability. People with low levels of concentration may be particularly distracted by moving content. If users are required to track and quickly respond or act on changes to the media, then anyone with limited manual dexterity may also experience access barriers.

General Principles

The solution is not to stop providing animated content, but to allow as far as possible options for users to control animations, and at a minimum be able to slow down, freeze or turn them off. Where web content is automatically updated, or pages result in automatic redirection, then users should be warned in advance that this will happen.

Before you continue

The advice on this page helps you avoid introducing a specific accessibility barrier, but it's not a magic formula. To avoid attempting to follow a technical solution that is not appropriate to the resource and its intended purpose, you need to know the context in which the multimedia resource is being used:

1. The purpose or aim of the multimedia resource in question, and whether it is being used to supplement another resource in the learning environment, or whether its use is required by students.
2. The target audience, their knowledge and expectations, and the type of browsing and assistive technology that they may be using.
3. Whether the information and experiences provided by the multimedia technology are already available in an equivalent, alternative form.

For more background on this approach, see our Guide to the use of multimedia in accessible e-learning.

Technique Details

The exact steps required are particularly dependent on the media resource in question, its purpose and intended audience. For example, where removing animated content would not adversely affect the ability of the resource to meet its objectives, then remove it!

However, if the animated content is core to the purpose of the resource, then explore ways of how:

1. Users can be warned in advance that the media content will be animated. (In some cases, this may seem like an exercise in stating the obvious; in other cases may be impractical, for example in on-line games where providing a warning within the game would only detract from the experience, or where the objective of the resource is to test speed of reaction).
2. The animated content can be provided in static format - for example a static text alternative to scrolling text, or a text alternative is provided to an animation provided through the HTML object element.
3. Users can freeze any movement before it starts, or stop movement during the animation. For a Flash animation, it may help to provide information on how a user can stop the animation, in the resource's Help or Accessibility documentation.
4. Users can slow down any refresh rate or movement, so that they can understand what is happening and, if they are required to detect changes in content and act on these changes within a specified time, have a greater opportunity of actually being able to notice and respond to the changes.

In each case, the most suitable method depends entirely on the context of the animated or dynamic media in question, and the technology used to provide it (for example Flash, Shockwave or JavaScript, HTML and Cascading Style Sheets).

The Flash movie in Example 1 was developed as part of a series of 5 Flash animations with audio narration for a Statistics series on How to Display Data. This particular animation describes how to calculate the mean value of a data set. The animation enhances the understanding of statistics by means of the graphic changing as the narration changes.

The animations can be accessed online by the students allowing them to view them in their own time and at their own pace. A pause button provides the students with control over the animated content.

Example 1: Play the Flash movie.

Testing

This is a How-to where automated testing is impossible, and to ensure the issue is addressed in the best way possible requires human judgement. Try to get feedback from people who have visual impairments, limited manual dexterity or have cognitive impairments that affect concentration.