----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Korn" <peter.korn@sun.com>
To: <JAVA-ACCESS@JAVA.SUN.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 5:10 PM
Subject: GNOME Accessibility Framework; J2SDK 1.4 beta 2; Java
Accessibility Helper 0.4
The Sun Accessibility team is delighted to announce the availability of:
- The Early Access release of the GNOME Accessibility Framework,
which provides support for the development of accessible GNOME
applications and for the development of assistive technologies
for the GNOME desktop. This Early Access release includes
everything necessary for GNOME application developers to make
their
applications accessible, and for assistive technology vendors to
being developing assistive technologies for the GNOME user
environment.
- Version 1.4 Beta 2 of the Java (TM) 2 Software Development Kit,
containing the Java Accessibility API, the Swing user-interface
classes, and support for loading Assistive Technologies into the
Java VM. Version 1.4 is a "feature" release of the Java 2 SDK,
and contains many new features, including a number of additions
and enhancements to support accessibility.
- Version 0.4 of the Java Accessibility Helper, a test tool for
Java application developers and testers to help them find and fix
accessibility problems with Java applications. This release
includes
support for testing Java applications and applets, and produces
detailed reports listing the problems it finds at a variety of
severity levels.
GNOME Accessibility Framework, Early Access release
---------------------------------------------------
The GNOME project comprises a desktop user environment: a graphical
desktop user interface and a set of user-interface libraries; as
well as a suite of office productivity tools and applications.
GNOME
is commonly part of Linux distributions (such as those from RedHat,
TurboLinux, VA Linux, etc.) and it is the future graphical desktop
for Sun Solaris workstations and servers. GNOME 2.0 is the upcoming
major release of the GNOME user environment, and it will support
accessibility for people with disabilities through built-in keyboard
access, and accessible applications which implement the GNOME
Accessibility Framework.
The GNOME Accessibility Framework is made up of several key pieces:
1. The Accessibility Toolkit (ATK), which is a definition of
the accessibility contract for GNOME user-interface elements;
2. The GNOME Accessibility Implementation Library (GAIL), which
implements the ATK on behalf of the GTK+ user-interface library
(a library of user-interface elements comprising things like
buttons, menus, scrolling text fields, etc.);
3. The desktop Assistive Technology Service Provider Interface
(AT SPI), which unifies all of the accessibility information
of applications running on the GNOME desktop (be they standard
GNOME applications, Java applications, or something different)
into one central interface for use by assistive technologies
like screen readers, screen magnifiers, and on-screen
keyboards.
Like the rest of the GNOME project, the GNOME Accessibility
Framework
is completely open-source. The GNOME Accessibility Framework is
licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
This Early Access release includes the final definition of the ATK,
an edition of GAIL that is roughly 70% completed, and an early
edition of the AT SPI. Also included in this release are a set of
test tools which both test the accessibility information in GNOME
applications, and illustrate how to develop assistive technologies
on top of the framework. The GNOME Accessibility Framework is now
ready for GNOME application developers to begin the process of
making
their applications accessible, and for assistive technology vendors
to being developing assistive technologies for the GNOME user
environment.
The GNOME Accessibility project, and the Early Access release
itself,
can be found at:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/
A press release announcing the GNOME Accessibility Framework Early
Access is at:
http://www.gnome.org/pr-accessible.html
A Linuxpower interview with a number of Sun's GNOME engineering
staff,
including members of the GNOME Accessibility engineering team, is
at:
http://www.linuxpower.org/display.php?id=213
Java 2 Software Development Kit version 1.4 Beta 2
--------------------------------------------------
The SDK is the reference release of the Java platform, containing
core support for Accessibility, the Java Runtime environment, and
the Java Plugin for use with web browsers such as Netscape and
Internet Explorer.
Version 1.4 Beta 2 contains the Java Accessibility API, the Swing
user-interface libraries (which support the Java Accessibility API),
and support for loading Assistive Technologies into the Java Virtual
Machine. New for accessibility in version 1.4 is improved keyboard
navigation in a number of Swing components - including the ability
to navigate links in the Swing HTML components, first-letter
navigation
in list components, and tabbed pane keyboard mnemonic support. Also
new for accessibility are several new AccessibleRole definitions,
several new system properties, and AccessibleExtendedComponent, an
addition to the Java Accessibility API.
A detailed list of the new accessibility features in Java 2 SDK 1.4
can be found at:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/docs/guide/access/new-features.html
The Java 2 SDK version 1.4 is described at and downloadable from:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/
Java Accessibility Helper version 0.4
-------------------------------------
The Java Accessibility Helper is a test tool for Java
application developers and testers to help them find and fix
accessibility problems
with Java applications. The Helper runs in a separate Java VM, and
works by exercising the application to be tested via standard
Java APIs, and via the Java Accessibility API. The Helper generates
a report that includes a prioritized list of problems and potential
problems with the application being tested (e.g. verifying that
all input fields in an application can be reached using only the
keyboard).
Version 0.4 includes support for testing Java applications and
applets, and fixes a number of bugs in the previous releases. The
Java
Accessibility Helper development team maintains a special e-mail
alias for questions and issue regarding it. Please direct your
Java Accessibility Helper e-mails to: jaccesshelper@sun.com
To download the Java Accessibility Helper version 0.4, go to the
Java
Developer Connection Early access page (log in, or establish
yourself
as a new user if you haven't logged in before):
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/earlyAccess/jaccesshelper
We actively welcome your comments on these releases - please tell us
what
you think of them, whether or not they meet your needs, and how we can
make
them better. Send your comments to the Sun Accessibility team at
<access@sun.com>, or share your comments with others interested in Java
Accessibility by joining the Java Accessibility mailing list,
<java-access@javasoft.com>. (To join, send a message to
<listserv@javasoft.com> and put "subscribe java-access" in the body of
the message). To take part in the GNOME Accessibility Project, join the
project's mailing list, <gnome-accessibility-list@gnome.org>. Do this
via
the page:
http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-accessibility-list
On behalf of Sun Microsystems,
Peter Korn
Sun Microsystems Accessibility team
access@sun.com
http://www.sun.com/access
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