Other site visitors have expressed concerns about accessibility -- how easily the site can be used by people with disabilities who need to use adaptive technology. Macromedia's solution is to offer a version of each page in plain hypertext markup language (HTML), the basic language of the Web. But Diana-Marie Travis, a southern California Web designer, said it's hard to find and difficult to use the HTML pages. "My daughter is disabled and does not use a mouse to navigate the Internet -- she would never be able to navigate this site," Travis said. "The HTML version does work properly, (but) the link to it is minuscule. The load time is so long I gave up trying to find anything. I realise Macromedia's need to advertise Flash, but this goes beyond advertisement and borders on irresponsibility." Lopez said a link to the HTML version is clearly displayed on each page of the Macromedia site. Accessibility experts were involved in the site design from early on, he added. "I think we're better than the vast majority of sites when it comes to accessibility," he said. "It's incredibly important for us." Ramadan said the majority of Macromedia customers have been positive about the redesign, and most dissenters just need time to adjust. "When you move from an HTML world into a much richer desktop-oriented world, that's a big change, and people just have difficulty with change," he said. "Any time you change a Web site, there's an initial week or so where people don't feel comfortable yet and you hear a lot of feedback."





