Re: Why isn't Open Office on Windows Accessible?

  • From: Alex Hall <mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:21:09 -0400

Well, Oracle bought Sun Micro Systems, so they bought Java along with
everything else owned by Sun. Now, since Android is written in Java
and runs atop a virtual machine, Oracle is trying to say that they are
entitled to some of the money made by Android since it is written in a
language Oracle now owns.

On 8/18/10, katherine Moss <plymouthroamer285@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Holy moly!  What's going on there?  What's Oracle suing Google for?
>
>
>
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Don Marang
> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 2:38 AM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Why isn't Open Office on Windows Accessible?
>
>
>
> Is all Android app development based on Google's version of Java?  Are there
> reasonable resources I can point developers to for Android accessibility
> implementation?  As a potential user / tinkerer, I would like to know as
> well and hopefully be in a better position to provide positive feedback.
>
>
>
> Will the threatened Oracle lawsuit of Google over Java damage Android's
> success?  Will it destroy inovation and Open Source if they win?
>
> Don Marang
>
>
>
> There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of any real
> substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am working
> on things that matter.
> Dean Kamen
>
>
>
> From: Ken Perry <mailto:whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 7:52 PM
>
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Subject: RE: Why isn't Open Office on Windows Accessible?
>
>
>
> This is sort of what Android is doing even if they have not went far enough
> yet.  They have an accessible event that is thrown by all controls excepting
> static and some other problems but at any rate if you use basic controls you
> get the accessible events if however you want to make a custom action you
> can also throw accessible events that the screen readers like talk back will
> catch and speak or the accessibility tools like kick back and sound back can
> catch and do something with.  So its part developer putting in special
> access and part developer using the controls that are already accessible.
> The unfortunate problem is what you get is only part accessible in most
> cases.  I am not saying Android is not accessible I am saying what Android
> is once again proving is if you leave it up to the developer at all us as
> developers are too lazy to do it.  Take me for example if I as a blind coder
> wrote a scrabble game I would not think of special cases for high resolution
> graphic cards to have spinning tiles or something to make the game more
> interesting for a sited player.  I would be shooting for my target audience.
> The reverse is even worse not only are sighted programmers used to rapid
> development and anything that slows them down out, but they wouldn't know
> what we need to have sent to make something accessible unless we point it
> out.  Here is an example under the Android platform.  The default media
> player has very accessible artist and song lists. But when you open them
> they say nothing for example When you open the media layer you are on a tab
> screen and when you arrow left and right it says artist albums and songs.
> If you click on artist nothing happens or at least as a blind person hears
> it nothing at all happens.  If however you are sighted you will notice that
> a whole list below opens up sort of like a tree but it's more like an
> expanded list.  If you don't know what you're doing and you click on it
> again because you thought nothing happened it would close the list.  Now a
> sighted coder wouldn't know this is a problem and the current access frame
> work doesn't take this into account.  What should have happened is a open
> event should have been thrown even though focus didn't change there should
> have been a notification.  Well it would have cost maybe 10 lines a code to
> make this work but those lines are not easy to find and if you don't know it
> needs to be there well you're not going to go looking in the View.java class
> and the accessible_inf_event.java class to figure out how it works because
> you don't know you need to.
>
>
>
> So how do we fix this?  My answer is better thought out tool kits. Once the
> developers can just use and it will be accessible.  If they make accustom
> control then don't do something for accessibility it will error.  Will this
> ever happen.  My answer is no but shrug I hope I am wrong.
>
>
>
> Ken
>
>
>
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jay Macarty
> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 1:29 AM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Why isn't Open Office on Windows Accessible?
>
>
>
> One of the ideas I have been toying with for the java screen reader (either
> we4java or jac) is providing a set of runtime annotations which could be
> used to enhance an application's accessibility by allowing the app developer
> to put in self voicing annotations. There are differing schools of thought
> on self voicing. Some say it is good because the developer knows the app
> best and where self voicing would be helpful. On the other hand, putting in
> self voicing without providing the user a way of controling it or turning
> off certain levels of it, takes away from the user's control over the
> accessibility feedback. If we put self voicing annotations into the java
> screen reader, a developer could add them in if desired but the base screen
> reader code base would still have control and could provide a common
> mechanism for allowing the user to adjust the self voicing feedback.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Ken Perry <mailto:whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 5:20 PM
>
> Subject: RE: Why isn't Open Office on Windows Accessible?
>
>
>
> I agree with Chris H.'s answer but I want to point out it's our fault it's
> not already accessible.  I wrote a simple talking java screen reader that
> did very little but it made it so I could use  Open Office. Crappily but the
> buttons talked and all and I did this in like 200 lines of code.  I know
> that code got passed around and I have since lost my copy but it  can be
> done by replacing the access bridge with self voicing code.  It just takes
> someone actually doing it.
>
>
>
> I am interested to see where Open Office goes now that it is Oricals.  I am
> worried about all Java stuff now that Orical is trying to Sew Google into
> stopping Android.  It's a crazy world.
>
>
>
> Ken
>
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kerneels Roos
> Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 3:30 AM
> To: programmingblind
> Subject: Why isn't Open Office on Windows Accessible?
>
>
>
> Hi List,
>
> Sorry if this question has been raised before and dealt with. Does anyone
> know exactly why the Windows version of Open Office is only partly
> accessible with a screen reader, while the Linux version is streets ahead?
> Because Open Office is written in Java I assume the code base is 98%
> identical across platforms. Is the problem mainly with the JAB (Java Access
> Bridge) or with the screen readers themselves? Could the JAB not be open
> sourced so it can be updated to bridge Java, MSAA, UIA and any other access
> middle ware standard?
>
> NVDA works the best with Open Office, so I would assume it makes the best
> use of the JAB. Is there other Java to access technology middle ware in
> common use today?
>
> I can remember a really long thread that in part had some info on Java
> accessibility, but I just can't justify going through all that to possibly
> find out more.
>
> Keep well
>
>
> --
> Kerneels Roos
> Cell/SMS: +27 (0)82 309 1998
> Skype: cornelis.roos
>
> The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!
>
>
>
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
> database 5376 (20100818) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>


-- 
Have a great day,
Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
__________
View the list's information and change your settings at 
//www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. programmingblind
  3. Archive
  4. 08-2010