11.9 Java^443Flash Resources
There are many sources of free Flash animations and Flash tutorials on the Web. In
addition to resources at the Adobe site, http://adobe.com, the following sites contain
tutorials and news about Flash:
●http://flashkit.com
●http://www.actionscript.org
●http://www.scriptocean.com/flashn.html
●http://www.kirupa.com/developer/flash/index.htmAs you visit these and other Flash resource sites, keep in mind that some Flash
media is copyrighted. Obtain permission from the creator of the media before using
it on your site and follow any instructions for giving credit to the source. Some sites
allow personal use of their Flash media for free but require licenses for commercial
use.
Adobe has been working toward increasing the accessibility of Flash objects. Recent
versions of Flash are accessible to assistive technologies, such as the Window-Eyes
screen readers, enabling rich content for a wider audience of Web page visitors.
Flash supports Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA), which provides both a stan-
dard method for client technology to communicate with assistive technologies and a
technique for developers to ensure that the client software they create to this stan-
dard can include Adobe Flash support. Visit Adobe’s Web site (http://www.adobe.
com/accessibility/products/flash) for the most up-to-date information on the issue of
Flash and accessibility.11.9Java
Javais an object-oriented programming (OOP) language developed by Sun
Microsystems. An object-oriented program consists of a group of cooperating objects
that exchange messages for the purpose of achieving a common objective. Java is not
the same language as JavaScript. It is more powerful and much more flexible than
JavaScript. Java can be used to develop both stand-alone executable applications and
applets that are invoked by Web pages.
Java applets are platform independent; that means they can be written and run on any
platform—Mac, UNIX, Linux, and Windows. Java applets are compiled (translated
from the English-like Java statements to an encoded form) and saved as .classfiles,
which contain byte code. The byte code is interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine
(JVM)in the Web browser. The JVM interprets the byte code into the proper machine
language for the operating system. The applet is then executed and appears on the Web
page. See Figure 11.10 for a diagram that shows this process. When a Java applet loads,
the area reserved for it on the Web page displays an empty rectangular area until the
applet begins to execute.WWW
Focus on Accessibility