Tools & Guidelines
CCforFlash

CCforFlash is a component that is added to your Flash project to display captions. If you are not a Flash programmer and need a pre-existing media player that already has CCforFlash inside it, check out NCAM's Flash-based media player, ccPlayer.

ActionScript 3 versions of CC for Flash and ccPlayer are now available. Read about the new features.

CCforFlash is used to display captions with Flash video and audio content. These captions are stored in external files formatted in the W3C's DFXP format which can be created with MAGpie, NCAM's free captioning application. CC for Flash can also display captions saved in Apple's QTtext format. QTtext files can be created by professional caption authoring tools, or with MAGpie.

Depending on which version of CC for Flash is used, authors can link to any of the following objects:

• FLVPlayback component
• MediaDisplay component
• Netstream object
• Sound object
• Movie clip or SWF timeline

The CC for Flash component is customizable and allows authors to set defaults, such as the width and height of the caption area, the caption area's background and text colors, the opacity of the background (for placing captions over the video), and the font family and font size of the captions themselves.

Other features include:

• access to captions stored internally in the Flash movie or embedded in the FLV video file;
• caption search, returning the timecodes where text strings occur;
• roll-up caption display;
• switching between multiple languages of captions that have been stored in the same DFXP file;
• ability to provide parsed caption data to other objects in the Flash movie;
• manual operation where a timecode is presented and the corresponding caption is displayed (AS3 version only).

For those who are not handy with Flash programming, NCAM has created two flexible players which ease the process of providing captioned Flash video and MP3 audio files: ccPlayer, incorporating the CC for Flash component, allows you to embed a FLV player on your Web page; ccMP3Player, which also incorporates the CC for Flash component, plays back MP3 files in a Web page with corresponding caption files. Both players are accessible to screen readers and can be operated solely from the keyboard.

Support for the creation of CC for Flash was provided by the NEC Foundation of America and Yahoo!

Downloads

AS3

CCforFlashAS3 v1.0.1 package, which includes the CCforFlashAS3 component and ccPlayerAS3
ccPlayerAS3 only
CC buttons for use with CC for Flash

AS2

CC for Flash v3.0.1 package, which includes the CCforFlash component, ccPlayer and ccMP3Player
ccPlayer only
ccMP3Player only
CC buttons for use with CC for Flash
ccPlayer source code
ccMP3Player source code

Features

AS3

CCforFlashAS3 feature list
ccPlayerAS3 feature list

AS2

CCforFlash (AS2) feature list
ccPlayer (AS2) feature list
ccMP3Player (AS2) feature list

Demonstrations

ccPlayer using the CCforFlash component
ccMP3Player using the CCforFlash component
adding the CCforFlash component to your Flash movie

Documentation

General

Authoring Captions for Flash

AS3

CCforFlashAS3 help file
ccPlayerAS3 help file

AS2

CCforFlash help file
ccPlayer help file
ccMP3Player help file

CCforFlash Community

NCAM has set up a public list for individuals to post any questions or comments they might have regarding the CCforFlash captioning component, ccPlayer (AS3 and AS2 versions), and ccMP3Player. The list provides a community which can help provide technical support for any of these products. Unfortunately, at this time, the list does not have an archive, so please feel free to post any question, regardless of whether it has been asked before.

To subscribe to this list, please send an e-mail to requests AT mail4 DOT wgbh DOT org with the words "subscribe CCforFlash" (no quotes) in the subject.

For further information about CCforFlash, please contact Mary Watkins at mary_watkins@wgbh.org.

We wish to express our thanks to David Klein, of the Law, Health Policy and Disability Center of the University of Iowa, for contributing information regarding the transformation and rendering of QTtext files in Flash.