macromedia

Bob Regan is the Accessibility Product Manager at Macromedia, creators of a range of high profile Web development, graphics, and animation products including Dreamweaver, Flash and Director.

Bob Regan是Macromedia的辅助功能产品经理，他是一系列著名的Web开发，图形和动画产品的创建者，其中包括Dreamweaver，Flash和Director。

I spoke to him recently to see what’s happening at Macromedia with regards to accessibility.

我最近与他交谈，以了解Macromedia在可访问性方面的情况。

背景 (Background)

How did you first personally become involved in accessibility?

您最初是如何亲自参与可访问性的？

When I was a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin, I was in charge of Web design instruction for faculty and staff. In late 1999, the university adopted a policy on Web accessibility. At that point, I not only had to learn about accessibility myself, I had to teach it to the faculty at the UW.

当我在威斯康星大学攻读博士学位时，我负责教职员工的Web设计指导。 1999年底，该大学通过了一项有关Web访问的政策。 那时，我不仅必须自己学习可访问性，还必须将其教给西澳大学的教师。

The more I got involved in the issue, the more I found it lined up with my interests as a teacher and as a researcher. Accessibility combines technology with issues of inclusion in ways that I found quite compelling. I soon changed my research field to align with the work I was doing in accessibility.

我越是参与这个问题，就越发现它符合我作为老师和研究员的兴趣。 可访问性以我认为非常引人注目的方式将技术与包含问题结合在一起。 我很快改变了自己的研究领域，以适应我在可访问性方面所做的工作。

At the same time, I took a grounded approach to accessibility. Rather than teaching the technical aspects of the standards, I re-wrote the training materials we were using for Macromedia. Most of the faculty and staff I was working with were publishing or maintaining sites, but didn’t even know HTML. The technical requirements of the W3C guidelines were often very hard for faculty to understand. So I integrated the concept into the non-technical training we’d been delivering before. This made accessibility a much more ‘accessible’ topic for many of our faculty.

同时，我对可访问性采取了扎实的方法。 我没有讲授标准的技术方面，而是重新编写了我们用于Macromedia的培训材料。 我与之共事的大多数教职员工都是发布或维护网站，但他们甚至都不懂HTML。 W3C指南的技术要求通常很难让教师理解。 因此，我将这个概念整合到了我们之前提供的非技术培训中。 这使可访问性成为我们许多教师更“可访问”的主题。

How long have you been involved with accessibility at Macromedia?

您参与Macromedia的辅助功能有多长时间了？

Almost two years. A representative from Macromedia came to visit the UW and heard about our work in accessibility. I was hired a few weeks after that.

快两年了。 Macromedia的代表来了访问UW，并听到了我们在可访问性方面的工作。 几周后我被录用了。

When did Macromedia first start looking at the accessibility of its products?

Macromedia何时开始关注其产品的可访问性？

One of the amazing things I learned about Macromedia when I first joined was how pervasive the thinking about accessibility was. The Dreamweaver team had been thinking about accessibility since Dreamweaver 3. The product manager at the time, a woman named Susan Morrow, wrote a manifesto of sorts that outlined the importance of accessibility from both social and economic perspectives.

当我第一次加入Macromedia时，我学到的令人惊奇的事情之一就是对可访问性的思考是如此普遍。 自Dreamweaver 3起，Dreamweaver团队就一直在考虑可访问性。当时的产品经理，名叫Susan Morrow的女士撰写了一份宣言，从社会和经济角度概述了可访问性的重要性。

Just after that, there was a group who was briefly left idle after an acquisition. To fill in the free time before development began on a new product there, the product manager asked them to build a plug-in for Dreamweaver that was similar to the accessibility validation tool known as Bobby. It was the first plug-in of its kind, and since then, every major validation company has authored a version of its own for authoring tools.

紧接着，有一群人在被收购后暂时处于闲置状态。 为了填补在那里开始开发新产品之前的空闲时间，产品经理要求他们为Dreamweaver构建一个插件，该插件类似于称为Bobby的可访问性验证工具。 它是同类产品中的第一个插件，自那时以来，每个主要的验证公司都编写了自己的创作工具版本。

Then I met a number of folks who were working to advance the issue on their own, without any fanfare or discussion. The HomeSite product manager had attended a session on accessibility at the National Center for Accessible Media. From that point on, he decided that HomeSite should be an accessible product.

然后，我遇到了许多人，他们都在不加任何夸张或讨论的情况下，独自致力于推进这一问题。 HomeSite产品经理参加了国家无障碍媒体中心的无障碍会议。 从那时起，他决定HomeSite应该是一种可访问的产品。

It was not until Section 508, the US Federal Requirement for government Websites, that Macromedia decided to hire someone to coordinate the issue. I was brought on board just before Section 508 was coming into effect.

直到第508节(美国联邦政府网站要求)，Macromedia才决定雇用某人来协调此问题。 在第508节生效之前，我被带上了董事会。

动机 (Motivation)

What is the driving force behind Macromedia’s work on improving Accessibility?

Macromedia改善可访问性的工作背后的推动力是什么？

First and foremost, accessibility is the right thing to do. This is a company of individuals who are socially aware and active. Accessibility generates a unique kind of enthusiasm for technology and its potential to make our society a more open and equitable place.

首先，可访问性是正确的选择。 这是一个具有社会意识和积极性的个人公司。 无障碍获取对技术产生了一种独特的热情，其潜力使我们的社会变得更加开放和公平。

At the same time, we couldn’t justify our work in accessibility without a strong business model. With the growing number of accessibility policies in the U.S., U.K. and around the world, we strive to make our tools the most accessible on the market. As people come to understand the importance of accessibility, we want them to think of Macromedia tools first.

同时，如果没有强大的业务模型，我们就无法为可访问性辩护。 随着美国，英国以及世界各地的无障碍政策日益增多，我们努力使我们的工具成为市场上最易获得的工具。 随着人们逐渐理解可访问性的重要性，我们希望他们首先想到Macromedia工具。

As the Accessibility Product Manager for Macromedia, how do you see Macromedia’s relationship with the accessibility community as a whole?

作为Macromedia的辅助功能产品经理，您如何看待Macromedia与整个辅助功能社区的关系？

Well, there is a difference between the accessibility and the disability communities. They overlap, but they are not synonymous. The accessibility community is a group of folks involved in accessibility standards, developing assistive technologies and ensuring that other technologies interoperate with assistive technologies and standards. These are folks like the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative, the Office of the e-Envoy in the UK, tool makers like GW Micro, and accessibility managers like myself at companies, universities and government offices.

好吧，可访问性社区和残疾人社区之间存在差异。 它们重叠，但是它们不是同义词。 可访问性社区是一群参与可访问性标准，开发辅助技术并确保其他技术与辅助技术和标准互操作的人。 这些人包括W3C的Web可访问性计划，英国的e-Envoy办公室，工具制造商(例如GW Micro)以及公司，大学和政府机关中的可访问性经理(例如我)。

The disability communities include groups like the Royal National Institute for the Blind, National Federation of the Blind and the Royal National Institute for the Deaf. These groups frequently have a deep involvement in the accessibility community, but they’re not the same thing.

残疾人社区包括皇家盲人学会，全国盲人联合会和皇家聋人学会等团体。 这些团体经常在无障碍社区中有深入的参与，但是他们不是同一回事。

There is no question that Macromedia would not be as successful as we have been in the area of accessibility without strong ties in the accessibility and disability communities. We invest a lot of our time in listening to our partners, and in helping to build examples of accessible content.

毫无疑问，如果在可访问性和残障社区中没有牢固的联系，Macromedia不会像在可访问性领域一样取得成功。 我们将大量时间用于倾听合作伙伴的意见，并帮助建立可访问内容的示例。

With which groups in the accessibility community do you have an active dialogue?

您与无障碍社区中的哪些团体进行了积极的对话？

Macromedia has a strong relationship with the accessibility community through standards work in the W3C, and with local government and education. It’s important for us to stay involved in these efforts to build support for the standards directly into our tools, but also to ask questions within the working groups that help them understand how standards are built into products. I serve on the authoring tools accessibility guidelines working group within the W3C. I’m also in regular contact with my colleagues charged with enforcing standards in government departments in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

Macromedia通过W3C中的标准工作与可访问性社区以及地方政府和教育部门保持着密切的关系。 对于我们来说，保持这些努力以直接在我们的工具中建立对标准的支持非常重要，而且在工作组中提出问题以帮助他们了解如何将标准内置到产品中，这一点很重要。 我是W3C内创作工具可访问性指南工作组的成员。 我还定期与负责执行美国，英国，加拿大和澳大利亚政府部门标准的同事保持联系。

Within the disability communities, I have regular contact with groups like the National Federation of the Blind in the US, the RNIB in the UK, Vision Australia, Telecommunications for the Deaf, and the American Association of People with Disabilities. To address concerns of individuals with disabilities that are not organized into a large umbrella organization, I spend a lot of time with researchers back at the University of Wisconsin where I got my start.

在残疾人社区中，我与美国盲人全国联合会，英国RNIB，澳大利亚视觉协会，聋人电信和美国残疾人协会等组织保持定期联系。 为了解决没有组织成大型伞式组织的残疾人的问题，我花了很多时间回到威斯康星大学开始研究的时候。

当前产品–输出 (Current Products – Output)

How do you approach the improvement of the accessibility of your products’ outputs?

您如何改善产品输出的可访问性？

There are three measures that shape the output of our tools. First, we measure the output of our tools against Web and accessibility standards. Second, we check our tools for interoperability with assistive technologies such as screen readers. Third — and most importantly — we seek out input from customers with disabilities to collect feedback on our tools.

可以通过三种方法来确定我们工具的输出。 首先，我们根据Web和可访问性标准衡量工具的输出。 其次，我们检查与辅助技术(例如屏幕阅读器)的互操作性的工具。 第三，也是最重要的一点，我们从残疾客户那里征求意见，以收集有关我们工具的反馈。

Which products are you focusing on primarily and how are you approaching this?

您主要关注哪些产品，您将如何实现？

We try to incorporate accessibility into every product. However, we’re known for our work with Dreamweaver, Flash and Contribute.

我们尝试将可访问性整合到每个产品中。 但是，我们以与Dreamweaver，Flash和Contribute的合作而闻名。

What progress have you made so far?

到目前为止，您取得了什么进展？

Terrific, but we’re not done yet! Accessibility often involves a complicated process of building in support for accessibility APIs in the OS such as MSAA, assistive technologies and standards. In several instances, the industry has run into some very serious challenges.

棒极了，但我们还没有完成！ 可访问性通常涉及构建对OS中的可访问性API(例如MSAA，辅助技术和标准)的支持的复杂过程。 在某些情况下，该行业遇到了一些非常严峻的挑战。

We’re dedicated to continually making our tools better, more accessible and more usable for people with disabilities.

我们致力于不断为残障人士提供更好，更易访问和更实用的工具。

Are there any areas of accessibility where your products can produce output that’s more accessible than other technologies such as XHTML and CSS?

您的产品是否可以在任何可访问性领域产生比其他技术(例如XHTML和CSS)更易访问的输出？

Accessibility needs to be understood broadly. For someone who’s blind, the most accessible form of content is plain text, perhaps marked up with xhtml and css. However, for someone with a cognitive disability, the least accessible form of content is plain text.

无障碍获取需要广泛地理解。 对于盲人来说，最易访问的内容形式是纯文本，也许用xhtml和css标记。 但是，对于有认知障碍的人来说，最难以访问的内容形式是纯文本。

In order for many forms of content to be truly accessible, they need to be multi-modal. Think of a math course. Imagine trying to understand the concept of a diameter and the relationship to circumference without images. Using rich media technologies such as Flash, a teacher can present this concept interactively that may make the concept more accessible to many students with and without cognitive disabilities.

为了使多种形式的内容真正可访问，它们需要是多模式的。 想一想数学课程。 想象一下，试图了解直径的概念以及与周长之间没有图像的关系。 通过使用Flash等富媒体技术，教师可以交互式地介绍此概念，这可以使许多有或没有认知障碍的学生更容易使用该概念。

An interactive Flash movie may not be the most accessible format for a child who is blind, but that does not mean that it should not be available to child with other disabilities. It only means that it should not be the only means of accessing this content.

对于盲人儿童来说，交互式Flash电影可能不是最易使用的格式，但这并不意味着其他残障儿童不能使用它。 这仅意味着它不应该是访问此内容的唯一方法。

当前产品–环境 (Current Products – Environment)

How accessible are your product environments currently?

您的产品环境当前的可访问性如何？

Both Dreamweaver and Contribute have been designed to be tools that can be easily used by people who are blind. We are working now with the National Federation of the Blind to develop tutorials for blind developers to learn html and Web design using our tools.

Dreamweaver和Contribute都被设计为盲人可以轻松使用的工具。 我们现在正在与美国盲人联合会合作，为盲人开发人员使用我们的工具学习html和Web设计的教程。

Will you be improving the accessibility of your product environments for disabled developers?

您是否会为残疾开发人员改善产品环境的可访问性？

Yes. Whenever and wherever we can.

是。 无论何时何地，我们都能做到。

开发者社区 (Developer Community)

How are you improving the awareness of accessibility within your developer community?

您如何提高开发人员社区中对可访问性的认识？

We work to incorporate accessibility into all of our training and documentation materials, we include sessions on accessibility at our own conferences, and we deliver sessions at a variety of other conferences discussing accessibility.

我们致力于将可访问性纳入我们所有的培训和文档资料中，我们在自己的会议中包括有关可访问性的会议，并在其他各种讨论可访问性的会议上进行会议。

What response have you had so far?

到目前为止，您有何回应？

Very, very positive. Designers are increasingly required to incorporate accessibility into their specs. We are able to introduce the topic in a manner that’s both familiar to designers, and consistent with their existing workflow.

非常非常积极。 越来越需要设计师将可访问性纳入其规格。 我们能够以设计师熟悉的方式并与他们现有的工作流程保持一致的方式介绍主题。

新产品 (New Products)

I believe you have a new product called Breeze coming out soon. What’s the take on accessibility there?

我相信您即将推出一种名为Breeze的新产品。 那里的可访问性如何？

Breeze is currently the most accessible product of its kind on the market. We have worked to ensure that the solution is accessible to people with disabilities by adding in support for screen readers via the Flash player, but also via the keyboard, to make it easier to control the movie.

Breeze是目前市场上同类产品中最容易获得的产品。 我们已努力通过Flash播放器以及键盘来增加对屏幕阅读器的支持，以确保残疾人可以使用该解决方案，从而使控制电影变得更加容易。

Does Macromedia Central affect the accessibility of Flash?

Macromedia Central是否会影响Flash的可访问性？

No, but the accessibility of Flash affects the accessibility of Central. At the moment, Central is not accessible, but like all our products, it is a priority.

不可以，但是Flash的可访问性会影响Central的可访问性。 目前，无法访问Central，但是像我们所有产品一样，它是优先事项。

Central is not accessible as it uses the standalone Flash player. At the moment, only the ActiveX Flash player is accessible.

由于Central使用独立的Flash Player，因此无法访问。 目前，只能访问ActiveX Flash播放器。

Will accessibility be integrated into all new products?

是否将辅助功能集成到所有新产品中？

Every product includes a plan for accessibility. We try to consider what use cases are likely for each product and incorporate support where we can. Obviously, the plan for Fireworks is different from the plan for Dreamweaver. However, there is a plan for every product.

每个产品都包含可访问性计划。 我们尝试考虑每种产品可能使用的用例，并在可能的地方合并支持。 显然，Fireworks的计划与Dreamweaver的计划不同。 但是，每种产品都有一个计划。

Many thanks to Bob for taking the time to complete this interview.

非常感谢Bob抽出宝贵的时间完成了这次采访。

翻译自: https://www.sitepoint.com/product-manager-macromedia/

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