New Look For Global Garden

Show Me Uk launched a new mini-site over Christmas, which we're very excited about! It's called Our Global Garden. It is one of the first websites designed for young children to use with screenreaders.

Photo: see if you can find this cheeky monkey in Our Global Garden.

A screenreader is a special computer programme designed to help people who are blind or can't see well to use their computers. It reads words that appear on a computer screen out loud.

When you look at an animated or cartoony website, chances are it will be made from a computer language called 'Flash'. Sites built in Flash are very hard for blind people to visit as their screenreaders can't read them.

Good news though - the clever people who make Flash have made a new version of the language which screenreaders CAN see. The new language is called Flash MX. Still with me?

Photo: this monkey is taking a look around the real-life Our Global Garden, at Eureka! in Halifax.

Show Me have made a mini website about one of the exhibitions at Eureka! The Museum for Children in Halifax, using Flash MX. This means that children who use screenreaders will be able to use the site.

The real-life exhibition at Eureka! is also called Our Global Garden. It's all about our planet and the different habitats we live in. If you live anywhere near Halifax, it's well worth a visit.

As far as we know, we are the first museum website to have a go at making a game using Flash MX. It has been an exciting time for us, experimenting with lots of different ways to use the language.

Photo: fancy living in an igloo? They're nice and warm you know. Find this one in the Ice Garden.

Do you use a screenreader? If you do, we hope you enjoy exploring Our Global Garden. We would love to hear what you think of the site.

As this was our first go at using Flash MX, it is always useful to hear feedback on how the site worked with your machine and your screenreader.

It's very important for us at Show Me that we try to create content for the website that as many of you as possible can enjoy.

Please use our Get in Touch page to let us know how you got on.