Hey, Adobe? A simple, heartfelt request from an accessibility driven designer

Question

First - I adore Captivate, anyone wishing to troll the product please start your own thread.
Now - my  heartfelt request - which has already been sent a a feature request. (I ask those who also work in accessibility environments to add this request from their accounts as well, the more requests, the better our chances for the feature)
Tab ordering for the buttons was an awesome upgrade, but why did you stop halfway to perfect? Flash allows the developer to set the tab index for ALL the objects on the screen - text, image, animation, movie clip, navigation controls, etc) by simply assigning a number in the accessibility menu:
Add this to Captivate and almost every workaround and kluged fix (including seven tab, ten entry per tab conditional actions) I have had to slap on an otherwise simple and elegant project files disappear. Rollovers and feedback boxes are simply inserted into the reading order without a fuss. Long winded and boring slide notes that are read without pause by screen readers are replaced by easily digested elements that can:
Provide multiple ways to operate the technology and retrieve information so that users can choose alternatives based on their physical capabilities.
Provide support for the assistive technology (AT) that people with disabilities use for improved accessibility.
Ensure that all users have equivalent access to all the information conveyed.
In short, we can give the user a much higher quality, more engaging an interactive experience (read: not just a text equivalent, although it could still be an option) that better reflects the capabilities of eLearning, regardless of their sight,  hearing and/or mobility impairments.
If you think this might be valuable, send a feature request to Adobe.
If you're one of the Adobe folks assigned to monitor this forum - how valuable would this fix be when marketing this to a government agency anywhere in the world that insists on accessible materials?
Justenuf

Answer 1

Hello,
Just read your initial post regarding accessibility. I know your post is a year old but I would also like to echo your opinion that Captivate 8 should include some or all of the accessibility tools available in Flash(including some advanced actions to control name attributes for the screen reader). We have just begun using Captivate, coming from a Flash background. We will continue to use Flash for projects that do not require mobile deployment but use Captivate for the rest while gradually moving away from Flash (unfortunately). In my limited time using Captivate, I find that Flash can be made so much more accessible than Captivate, which is really disappointing given that it is from the same company. Maybe that opinion will change as I get used to Captivate but I have my doubts.
Anyway, one thing I do like in Captivate is the fact that a screen reader automatically reads the text in the "Accessibility" window (which should really be named the "screen reader text" window).
I have a couple of questions I wonder if you can answer:
1. Is there a way to make the "Accessibility" and "Tab Index" windows stay up all of the time without having to close it to get to another button, object or screen? It is very annoying to have to close it every time to go and check on the name of a button so that I can put it in the correct tab order (same goes for the "accessibility" text window). You shouldn't have to click on the stage (to take focus away from a button) to get access to the "tab index" window.
2. How do you make quiz questions keyboard accessible? I cannot seem to do this and without that functionality, Captivate fails as a tool to create accessible products.
Thanks,
dave