----- Original Message ----- From: "Senk, Mark J." <zia7@CDC.GOV> To: <JAVA-ACCESS@JAVA.SUN.COM> Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2001 10:46 AM Subject: Linux desktop push could benefit disabled from http://www.eetimes.com/printableArticle?doc_id=OEG20011010S0069 Linux desktop push could benefit disabled By Terry Costlow, EE Times Oct 10, 2001 (2:01 PM) URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011010S0069 If the push to extend Linux to the desktop is successful, the disabled will be big beneficiaries. The Gnome Accessibility Framework is finalizing a release that incorporates support for accessible applications programs, a move that will make it far simpler for developers to link peripherals such as screen readers to systems running the open-source Linux operating system. The project to develop the hooks needed for accessibility hardware and software was begun by Sun Microsystems Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.), but has now gained the help of a number of companies within and without the small industry that focuses on accessibility for handicapped people. Among them are IBM, HP-Compaq and Linux proponents Red Hat, Eazel and TurboLinux. "Gnome 2.0 has been completely redesigned; we're building full support for disabilities into it," said Peter Korn, accessibility manager at Sun, referring to the GNU project's Gnome platform for home and office desktop PCs. "It's no longer just a Sun effort. We have gotten lots of help from the open community." "Those of us on the receiving end of this haven't seen anything to base a firm reaction on, but in theory what they're doing will be very beneficial," said Bud Rizer, director of the Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). "I'm sure this will come to market soon; they've put too much into it not to get it out." The Gnome Accessibility Framework is expected to ship late his year, and those involved in simplifying computer access for disabled people are anxious to see it in action. (The word, an acronym for GNU Network Object Model Environment, is pronounced guh-nome.) Moreover, the timing for the framework's arrival is propitious. Earlier this year, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act was enacted, directing federal agencies to provide computer and Internet access to people with disabilities or face being sued. Some observers contend that 54 million Americans, about one in five, have some form of disability, from carpal-tunnel syndrome to more severe impairments. Proponents of accessibility technology also contend that many of the developments which make products useful for disabled people benefit other citizens as well. Sidewalk cutouts, for example, are an aid not only to people in wheelchairs but also to bicyclists and skateboarders. Whether or not the Gnome Accessibility Framework sees widespread usage, of course, hinges on the overall acceptance of Gnome itself on the desktop. Sun has pledged to adopt Gnome for its own desktop environment, and a number of major companies also support it. Gnome is up against stiff competition, however, since it hopes to vie with Microsoft Office for desktop preeminence. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. too is putting a strong emphasis on accessibility software. The Redmond, Wash., company has mustered a 40-member team that has contact with all in-house development groups, advising them on accessibility issues. Microsoft last year won an award for 12 years of effort in computer accessibility. Hooks for accessibility have been built right into the Gnome framework, making it far simpler to integrate hardware and software that meets the needs of handicapped people. Screen readers, voice-recognition programs and speech-synthesis systems are among the types of gear that can help the disabled operate computers. "Products can work with the full operations of the operating system they're running on instead of being bolted on and working just with some things," said Sun's Korn. Java has these hooks, and its developers at Sun have garnered much praise for including them in that OS. "A few months ago, the American Foundation for the Blind [gave an award to] Java for building the hooks in. Java was a predecessor to Gnome," Korn said. Many of the companies that serve the disabilities marketplace are looking forward to the availability of Gnome because it will simplify their development cycles. The open-source Linux environment is expected to go through fewer changes than other operating systems, so the time and expense of upgrading to new OS versions will be vastly diminished. That's a big concern in the accessibility world, since many of the companies in the field have just a handful of employees and limited resources. "Compared with the mainstream computer companies, companies in the disabled marketplace are very, very small," said Rizer of CSUN. "Each time there's a change in the desktop environment, going back to the time of DOS, they have had to do a total redesign of their products. If Sun does this [Gnome framework] as planned, those types of changes won't be necessary anymore, and they can focus on developing better products." Korn added that Sun's experience in making Java accessible to designers of equipment for handicapped people has helped in the creation of the Gnome Accessibility Framework. "When people go from Windows 95 to 98 to ME, companies need to create new versions of screen readers, or whatever product they make," Korn said. "They have not had to do that with Java, and they will not have to do that with Gnome. We've said this is the responsibility of the platform. It's like building a house with Legos: People usually use stock windows and doors. In software, if there are stock pieces available for free, people will use them, so that's what we've done in Gnome." Affordable systems Korn and others believe that as more accessibility components become widely available, the cost of equipment will decline, making computing far more affordable for the handicapped and the agencies that serve them, both of which often are on tight budgets. "There are tremendous implications for supports and maintenance costs as well as for the initial costs," Korn said. "If it doesn't take an engineering team a year to write a screen reader, a screen reader might not cost $1,200." In addition to the Accessibility Framework, Sun has released version 1.4 of its Java 2 software development kit. The kit contains core support for accessibility and the Swing user interface libraries, which support the Java accessibility API (also included in the kit). Other elements include the Java Runtime environment and plug-ins for browsers. Sun is also shipping version 0.4 of the Java Accessibility Helper, a test tool for Java accessibility. EE Times www.cmpnet.com The Technology Network Copyright 1998 CMP Media Inc. ======================================================================== === To unsubscribe, send email to listserv@java.sun.com and include in the body of the message "signoff JAVA-ACCESS". For general help, send email to listserv@java.sun.com and include in the body of the message "help".