Provide a name for an object

You can turn off automatic labeling for part of an application and provide names for the objects in the Accessibility panel. If you have automatic labeling turned on, you can select specific objects and provide names for the objects in the Name text field in the Accessibility panel so that the name is used instead of the object text label.

When a button or input text field doesn’t have a text label, or when the label is in a location that Flash Player can’t detect, you can specify a name for the button or text field. You can also specify a name if the text label is near a button or text field, but you don’t want that text to be used as that object’s name.

In the following example, the text that describes the button appears outside and to the right of the button. In this location, Flash Player does not detect the text, and the screen reader does not read it.


To correct this situation, open the Accessibility panel, select the button, and enter the name and description. To prevent repetition, make the text object inaccessible.

Note: An object’s accessibility name is unrelated to the ActionScript instance name or ActionScript variable name associated with the object. (This information generally applies to all objects.) For information on how ActionScript handles instance names and variable names in text fields, see About text field instance and variable names in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash.

Specify a name and description for a button, text field, or entire Flash application

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To provide a name for a button or text field, select the object on the Stage.

    • To provide a name for an entire Flash application, deselect all objects on the Stage.

  2. Select Window > Other Panels > Accessibility.
  3. Select either Make Object Accessible (for buttons or text fields) or the default, Make Movie Accessible (for entire Flash applications).
  4. Enter a name and description for the button, text field, or Flash application.

Define accessibility for a selected object in a Flash application

  1. Select Window > Other Panels > Accessibility.
  2. Do one of the following:

    • Select Make Object Accessible (the default setting) to expose the object to screen readers and to enable other options in the panel.

    • Deselect Make Object Accessible to hide the object from screen readers and disable the other options in the panel.

  3. Enter a name and a description for the selected object as needed:
    Dynamic text

    To provide a description for static text, you must convert it to dynamic text.
    Input text fields or buttons

    Enter a keyboard shortcut.

    Movie clips

    Select Make Child Objects Accessible to expose the objects inside the movie clip to screen readers.

    Note: If you can describe your application in a simple phrase that a screen reader can easily convey, turn off Make Children Accessible, and type a suitable description.

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