In the future, applets should be included as "objects" but in transition times, the old tags can be used as follows:
<applet code="sillyFish.class" name="redFish"
width="200" height="25">
<param name="bgColor" value="blue">
<param name="fgColor" value="red"
</applet>
Applets require software to run them and often the software is in the form of a plug-in that has to be downloaded for use within or with the browser. The question of accessibility of an applet can, then, depend upon the accessibility of the plug-in and how hard it is for the user to include it in their browser.
In general, applets should be avoided if possible.
When applets other than Java applets are produced, for example applets developed on Microsoft systems, they may only be accessible if users have the right platform (Windows) and plug-ins. See information about how to make accessible Java applets.
Information from Microsoft about how to make applications accessible is available at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/guidelines/software.htm but it should be remembered that this will only make resources 'accessible' to Windows users.
Closed captions can make content accessible to a range of users. they should be developed in a way that produces accessibility across platforms. In particular, Magpie from NCAM is recommend for making closed captions that are suitable for everyone.
As is said on the NCAM site (http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/),
"Using MAGpie, authors can add captions to three multimedia formats: Apple's QuickTime, the World Wide Web Consortium's Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) and Microsoft's Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) format. MAGpie can also integrate audio descriptions into SMIL presentations.
MAGpie is the ideal authoring environment for multimedia specialists, publishing companies or service providers who want to add captions, subtitles and audio descriptions to their work. However, others will also benefit from its use. Research performed by WGBH has demonstrated that caption authoring is a valuable classroom activity. Children who produce caption files for short video clips tend to write more, and their writing skills improve more rapidly. MAGpie is friendly to those who are new to multimedia, educators and even to young users. "
MAGpie is available in a number of formats for free from NCAM at http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/
The Microsoft approach to closed captions for the users of the Windows platform, is to use SAMI. This makes captions only for resources running on the Windows platform and so it not recommended. Information is available from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/sami/default.htm.
Last updated: 8 March 2002