Member Avatar for carvdogg

How do I remove the outline around my flash sites that IE causes that appears when your mouse rolls over it. ie http://www.sabinarealestate.com...

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by migcosta

Dani AI

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Short answer: the thin frame is IE drawing the ActiveX/plugin focus/activation rectangle (the “click to activate” behavior introduced around the MS06-013 update). You can avoid the visible frame by either embedding the SWF dynamically (preferred) or by adding a few focus-suppressing attributes to the OBJECT/EMBED — but do this carefully because it affects keyboard access and accessibility. (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical fixes you can use now

  • Best cross‑browser fix: embed the SWF with a small JS library (SWFObject or the player’s JS embed). Dynamic insertion bypasses the click‑to‑activate step in IE and prevents the outline in most cases. Example library: SWFObject. (github.com)

Example (SWFObject)

<script src="swfobject.js"></script>
<script>
  var params = { wmode: "opaque", allowScriptAccess: "always" };
  var attrs  = { id: "mySwf", name: "mySwf", tabindex: "-1" };
  swfobject.embedSWF("movie.swf", "flashDiv", "600", "400", "9.0.0", null, {}, params, attrs);
</script>

If you must keep static OBJECT/EMBED tags

  • Add IE-specific attributes: tabindex="-1" and/or hideFocus="true", and a safe CSS rule like object, embed { outline: none; }. hideFocus is an IE property; tabindex="-1" prevents the plugin from getting keyboard focus (so don’t use it if the Flash needs keys). For reference on the hideFocus property see Microsoft’s docs. (learn.microsoft.com)

Example (static)

<object data="movie.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" tabindex="-1" hideFocus="true" style="outline:none;">
  <param name="movie" value="movie.swf" />
  <param name="wmode" value="opaque" />
</object>

Cautions and testing

  • wmode (window/opaque/transparent) affects layering, performance, full‑screen and keyboard behavior — prefer window unless layering/transparency is required. Check Adobe’s publish/wmode notes. ()
  • Don’t blindly remove focus indicators: keyboard users need visible focus; if you suppress outlines, provide an accessible alternative. See WCAG guidance on focus visibility. (w3.org)

Notes on earlier replies

  • was pointing toward the IE/ActiveX change; ’s Dreamweaver remark is practical (modern tools regenerate safe embed code), but knowing the manual fixes above lets you control exactly which attributes are used and avoid accessibility regressions.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Member #46692

Haven't you heard it on the grapevine

Member Avatar for migcosta

There has been some alterations to the IE security and by so the flash movies appear with that outline..
The easy why is to download a new version of Macromedia Dreamweaver and edit the page where you have the flash movie… DreamWeaver will fix that problem automatically.

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