HI there
First off, does the behavior change at all if you have a button object on the first slide that the user must click? If so, the issue is likely that the flash object in the browser doesn't have focus. By inviting the user to click the button object, they also silently shift focus to the Flash Player, where it will then be "listening" for keypresses such as Tab.
Secondly, I'm admittedly shocked that you say each slide is between .5 and 1 second long. I'm personally not a fan of really long slides (more than perhaps 10 or 15 seconds) but if you really did intend to list the times you did, that's awfully brief. I might imagine that may also be playing a role in the confusion.
I'm guessing you see the same issues with any browser? Or is it browser specific? Heck, sometimes you even see different behavior in different versions of the same browser!
Cheers... Rick Image may be NSFW.
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