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

  • From: Kerneels Roos <kerneels@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:15:40 +0200

NVDA makes Open Office fairly accessible, but things could be better. JAWS
without any special JAWS scripts at least, doesn't help much to make Open
Office accessible -- it's pretty much useless.

What I would like to know is if it is possible to make OO totally accessible
through a set of JAWS scripts, or is there a bigger underlying problem with
the JAB that first needs to be addressed before JAWS scripts would make a
difference, and before one could hope to have NVDA also work better with OO
and any other Java app for that matter where the Java app developers tried
their best to make the app accessible.

Ken, your custom screen reader for OO and other Java apps is pretty
impressive. Does anyone have that code somewhere? I would really like to
have a look at it. So you say it actually replaced the functionality of the
JAB?

Where would one start if your end goal would be to have Java apps be more
accessible than they are today? It must be possible to make OO under Windows
be more accessible since under Linux it's much better. At this point you
might say, well just use the Linux one then, but that is not always possible
and some OO extensions, like odt2braille is only available for Windows for
example.

What about other screen readers? Has anyone experienced much better results
with any of these:
Hal
System Access
Thunder
Windows Eyes
(any others)

And lastly, why does Orca work so well with some Java apps, like Open Office
and possibly others too?

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated. I'm really not pointing
fingers, I just think the solution is not far off and we can make it happen,
so why not?

Keep well,
Kerneels

On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 4:13 PM, Trouble <trouble1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> And in speaking about the accessibility of open office a java software.
> Anyone have a link or download of the accessible bridge v2? I tried v1.8
> but it won't recognize there latest upgrade. Now all java stuff is partially
> broke whether it be software or web pages. That would be a bug that FS will
> never fix and has left it up to sun micro systems.
>
>
> At 03:30 AM 8/13/2010, you wrote:
>
>> 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!
>>
>>
> Tim
> trouble
> Verizon FIOS support tech
> "Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance."
> --Sam Brown
>
> Blindeudora list owner.
> To subscribe or info: //www.freelists.org/webpage/blindeudora
> __________
> View the list's information and change your settings at
> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>
>


-- 
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!

Other related posts:

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