[real-eyes] Announcing The OSAT Project And A Free Screen Reader For Windows 'Longhorn'
- From: <bigdaddylou63@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:09:23 -0500
I came across this article recently. don't know when it's from though. It
mentions Microsoft Longhorn? Is there such a beast? Is anyone familiar
with the below and if so where are they currently at with their project,
just curious.
Peace
Luis
>>Hi,
>>
>>Today marks the public launch of the Open Source Access Technology
>>(OSAT) Project, a project that aims to advance access technology
>>research, and ownership by those who are currently unable to
>>financially afford the benefits access technology brings.
>>
>>What is the OSAT Project?
>>The OSAT Project is a group of people who believe in advancing the
>>state of the art in access technology for people with a disability, and
>>delivering access technology to those who would not otherwise be able
>>to afford it. We're a group of former members of the access technology
>>industry, members of the software industry, academic researchers
>>working in the fields of accessibility and human computer interaction,
>>as well as the most important group, the end users of access
>>technology. Membership is free and is open to all.
>>
>>What are the aims of the OSAT Project?
>>The project has two core principles: to deliver access technology to
>>those who may not otherwise be able to afford it, and to increase the
>>pace of access technology research and development, and it's transfer
>>to the products used by people with disabilities. These two principles
>>are fundamental in guiding the activities of the OSAT Project.
>>
>>
>>
>>At the time of writing, access technologies remain relatively expensive
>>to the income received by the majority of people with disabilities.
>>This is true for the developed world, where people with disabilities
>>commonly receive a low income relative to other groups of society, and
>>the developing world, where people with disabilities often receive
>>little or no income. This places access technologies, which could
>>vastly improve the abilities of people with disabilities, beyond the
>>reach of the majority of intended worldwide consumers. To try and
>>address this issue, and in doing so increase the available range of
>>abilities for people with disabilities, the OSAT Project aims to
>>deliver at least it's core products for little or no cost to the
>>consumer. It is hoped that by increasing the availability of access
>>technologies, that more people will gain a greater ability to
>>participate in the aspects of society from which they are currently
>>excluded or where they face overwhelming difficulties in participation.
>>
>>
>>
>>The abilities access technologies afford their users are largely
>>driven by progress in research and development, spanning both
>>industry and academia. In view of this, the OSAT Project will seek
>>to implement cutting edge research into it's products from research
>>centres around the world, where it is both practical and
>>complimentary to the product to do so. Additionally the OSAT
>>Project will seek to undertake it's own research where opportunity
>>arises, in order to actively advance the state of the art in access
>>technology techniques and practices. One key aspect to the research
>>undertaken by the OSAT Project will be sharing of it's findings with
>>the access technology research community and commercial access
>>technology vendors, in order to ensure the widest possible spectrum
>>of users benefit from the results.
>>
>>
>>
>>Is the project a profit making venture?
>>
>>No. Any funds received by the project will be used to cover the
>>costs incurred by the project, either in it's running and
>>administration, or in procuring third party components such as text
>>to speech (TTS) synthesisers. Any surplus funds will be invested
>>into the project, allowing it to further meet it's goals.
>>
>>
>>
>>Is the project in competition with the commercial vendors?
>>
>>No. It is not the intention of the OSAT Project to compete with
>>commercial access technology vendors, but to provide a supplementary
>>and complimentary service. As a community project the OSAT Project
>>is without the fiscal requirements found within the commercial
>>access technology industry, and therefore can undertake activities
>>that are not viable options for commercial vendors. However, the
>>commercial vendors, through their network of distributors, trainers
>>and technical support staff provide services that community based
>>projects cannot provide. Therefore the two groups are seen as
>>complimentary to each other. To further promote this complimentary
>>nature, the OSAT Project is willing to licence it's output to the
>>commercial access technology industry for a nominal fee, relative to
>>the output the vendor wishes to licence, and all proceeds from this
>>licensing scheme will be used to offset any costs incurred by the
>>OSAT Project in undertaking it's work.
>>
>>
>>
>>What will the first software project be that the OSAT Project will
> undertake?
>>
>>Presently, the first piece of software that the project plans to
>>build is an open source screen reader for Windows 'Longhorn', which
>>is planned to be released by Microsoft Corporation next year,
>>according to published press releases. Windows 'Longhorn' affords
>>the opportunities for some cutting edge research to be done into the
>>accessibility of computer interfaces and computer based documents
>>for the blind. At present the plan is to investigate an interface
>>for a screen reader based on speech, Braille and non-speech audio,
>>and for this interface to allow the user to operate a GUI based
>>interface in much the same way as a sighted user would. Another
>>exciting prospect is semantic based transformation of images into
>>textual descriptions, something made possible through Longhorn's use
>>of vectors to draw it's images.
>>
>>
>>
>>Can you get involved in the project?
>>
>>Yes, the project is open to all, not just those with expertise in
>>software development, human computer interaction, or another
>>technical skill. Input from end users on the problems they face,
>>what problems are important to them, and what the project should be
>>doing to try and address these is important to the OSAT Project. In
>>view of this, anyone can participate regardless of their background
>>or expertise in a technical area.
>>
>>
>>
>>How do I get more information?
>>
>>The project has set up an email list to discuss the direction the
>>project should be heading in, what sort of things should be in the
>>screen reader for Windows 'Longhorn', etc. You can sign up to this
>>email forum by sending an email to:
>>
>> ossrp-control-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>and including "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject field
>>of the email.
>>
>>
>>
>>As we start to gear up for development we'll be recruiting for the
>>more technical areas, but everyone is welcome to join the project right
> now.
>>
>>
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>>Will Pearson
>>
>>on behalf of the OSAT Project Team
>
> Regards Steve,
> Email: srp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> MSN Messenger: internetuser383@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Skype: steve1963
>
>
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