We can't ignore the fact that the exciting part of the web is moving away from documents and into applications.
It's possible to make DHTML/AJAX/Javascript applications act like desktop applications with respect to keyboard navigation (on IE and Firefox) and support for accessibility tools (currently Firefox only). This was part of the accessibility code that IBM contributed to Firefox.
You're not up-to-date with your Firefox comments.
Firefox 1.5 is usable with recent screen readers from Freedom Scientific (JAWS) and GW Micro (Window-Eyes).
Opera does not even expose MSAA on the Windows version. It's not usable with a screen reader. The built in voice support is not suitable for blind users.
Firefox 1.5 accessibility features are on par with IE's. It more than makes up for any flaws by being the first browsre to introduce accessibility for DHTML/JS/AJAX applications. This will allow companies that need to deploy section 508 compliant web applications to use the web instead of marrying any particular platform API set.
See http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml
I'm work for IBM as one of those 'accessibility experts' and am the module owner for accessibility in Firefox. IBM picked up the Firefox and Gecko accessibility work after AOL lost interest in anything Mozilla-related.
JAWS 7 in fact works with Firefox 1.5. Ask your friend to try that combination -- Firefox 1.5 RC 2 is avalable on mozilla.org. Your friend can also try Window-Eyes 5.5 with Firefox 1.5 -- it works great.
It took me since 2001 to get all of the APIs implemented that were required for Mozilla accessibility on Windows. We also had tons of keyboard, focus and UI issues to fix. Then there is the new stuff -- accessibility for JavaScript/DHTML/AJAX applications. Firefox 1.5 is the first browser to provide the ability for authors to make custom DHTML widgets accessible. See http://www.mozilla.org/access. So we're going beyond the status quo.
For any application with any kind of document viewer or editor application with its own engine, accessibility requires a lot of work in the code. After that it requires a great deal of cooperation from screen reader companies so that two complex systems interact correctly.
I wrote the code but I have no karma on slashdot so you probably won't see this.
Web developers should take a look at http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml for more info on the new techniques, with examples.
The actual C++ code is in CVS. The assistive technology support is in the mozilla/accessible directory:
http://lxr.mozilla.org/seamonkey/source/accessible /
The keyboard navigation code is distributed throughout Gecko.
Accessible doesn't just mean "keyboard accessible". It means 1) keyboard accessible in a way that users already know and understand, so that usability is not degraded, and 2) accessible with assistive technologies such as screen readers.
The page linked to has accessibility problems, not just for keyboard users, but especially for screen reader users. Fortunately a solution is on the way in the upcoming release of Firefox:)
I am working on a way to have accessible, styled/scripted form controls of all types. This includes menubars, tab panels, tree views and spreadsheets, not just simple widgets like checkboxes and radio buttons. IBM is contributing this work to Firefox as part of an open accessible DHTML standard.
The keyboard part of the solution involves the use of tabindex="-1" for elements that are focusable but not part of the tab order. This allows these elements to be in a container that the user arrows around, for example. This part is compatible with IE (see http://www.mozilla.org/access/keyboard/tabindex) Then there is the compatibility with assistive technology. That is accomplished with new namespaced attributes. See http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml for an explanation and samples.
And you don't have to be a Nazi to care about accessibility.:)
Whoops -- I forgot one thing. You can use the Window-Eyes 5 beta screen reader with Mozilla Seamkonkey (the clsasic suite), but it is not yet compatible with Firefox.
Ok, here's the scoop (I actually work on screen reader accessibility for Mozilla-based browsers).
Window-Eyes is currently a much better bet than JAWS for people interested in Mozilla. The current beta at http://www.gwmicro.com/beta/ mentions their Mozilla support. You have to download an alpha of Seamonkey (the classic suite) or a nightly of Firefox to get it to work. The suite is better for now, until we get some more front-end accessibility polishing underway for Firefox.
JAWS + Firefox compatibility should happen over the next year or so. It's not that Firefox doesn't support JAWS, but the other way around. For a good web browsing experience, screen readers have special navigation modes that need to be implemented per-browser. Currently JAWS uses IE-specific API's to implement their IE support, and no one wants to build compatibility with Mozilla using the same technique.
For more info on Mozilla-related accessibility, check out http://www.mozilla.org/access There's info on all of our accessibility-related projects, plus info for screen reader and other assistive technology vendors who wish to develop compatibility with products based on Mozilla technologies. There's also a newsgroup and mailing list on there.
Slashdot Mirror
Have him write software rules to block other spammers. He'll be good at it. Okay it's not a punishment but hey.
We can't ignore the fact that the exciting part of the web is moving away from documents and into applications.
0 5.html
It's possible to make DHTML/AJAX/Javascript applications act like desktop applications with respect to keyboard navigation (on IE and Firefox) and support for accessibility tools (currently Firefox only). This was part of the accessibility code that IBM contributed to Firefox.
Information and examples here:
http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml/
W3C roadmap for the developing standard here:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/roadmap/DHTMLRoadmap1105
You're not up-to-date with your Firefox comments. Firefox 1.5 is usable with recent screen readers from Freedom Scientific (JAWS) and GW Micro (Window-Eyes). Opera does not even expose MSAA on the Windows version. It's not usable with a screen reader. The built in voice support is not suitable for blind users. Firefox 1.5 accessibility features are on par with IE's. It more than makes up for any flaws by being the first browsre to introduce accessibility for DHTML/JS/AJAX applications. This will allow companies that need to deploy section 508 compliant web applications to use the web instead of marrying any particular platform API set. See http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml
I'm work for IBM as one of those 'accessibility experts' and am the module owner for accessibility in Firefox. IBM picked up the Firefox and Gecko accessibility work after AOL lost interest in anything Mozilla-related.
JAWS 7 in fact works with Firefox 1.5. Ask your friend to try that combination -- Firefox 1.5 RC 2 is avalable on mozilla.org. Your friend can also try Window-Eyes 5.5 with Firefox 1.5 -- it works great.
It took me since 2001 to get all of the APIs implemented that were required for Mozilla accessibility on Windows. We also had tons of keyboard, focus and UI issues to fix. Then there is the new stuff -- accessibility for JavaScript/DHTML/AJAX applications. Firefox 1.5 is the first browser to provide the ability for authors to make custom DHTML widgets accessible. See http://www.mozilla.org/access. So we're going beyond the status quo.
For any application with any kind of document viewer or editor application with its own engine, accessibility requires a lot of work in the code. After that it requires a great deal of cooperation from screen reader companies so that two complex systems interact correctly.
Aaron Leventhal
http://www.mozilla.org/access
I wrote the code but I have no karma on slashdot so you probably won't see this. Web developers should take a look at http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml for more info on the new techniques, with examples. The actual C++ code is in CVS. The assistive technology support is in the mozilla/accessible directory: http://lxr.mozilla.org/seamonkey/source/accessible /
The keyboard navigation code is distributed throughout Gecko.
Accessible doesn't just mean "keyboard accessible". It means
:)
:)
1) keyboard accessible in a way that users already know and understand, so that usability is not degraded, and
2) accessible with assistive technologies such as screen readers.
The page linked to has accessibility problems, not just for keyboard users, but especially for screen reader users. Fortunately a solution is on the way in the upcoming release of Firefox
I am working on a way to have accessible, styled/scripted form controls of all types. This includes menubars, tab panels, tree views and spreadsheets, not just simple widgets like checkboxes and radio buttons. IBM is contributing this work to Firefox as part of an open accessible DHTML standard.
The keyboard part of the solution involves the use of tabindex="-1" for elements that are focusable but not part of the tab order. This allows these elements to be in a container that the user arrows around, for example. This part is compatible with IE (see http://www.mozilla.org/access/keyboard/tabindex)
Then there is the compatibility with assistive technology. That is accomplished with new namespaced attributes. See http://www.mozilla.org/access/dhtml for an explanation and samples.
And you don't have to be a Nazi to care about accessibility.
Whoops -- I forgot one thing. You can use the Window-Eyes 5 beta screen reader with Mozilla Seamkonkey (the clsasic suite), but it is not yet compatible with Firefox.
Ok, here's the scoop (I actually work on screen reader accessibility for Mozilla-based browsers).
Window-Eyes is currently a much better bet than JAWS for people interested in Mozilla. The current beta at http://www.gwmicro.com/beta/ mentions their Mozilla support. You have to download an alpha of Seamonkey (the classic suite) or a nightly of Firefox to get it to work. The suite is better for now, until we get some more front-end accessibility polishing underway for Firefox.
JAWS + Firefox compatibility should happen over the next year or so. It's not that Firefox doesn't support JAWS, but the other way around. For a good web browsing experience, screen readers have special navigation modes that need to be implemented per-browser. Currently JAWS uses IE-specific API's to implement their IE support, and no one wants to build compatibility with Mozilla using the same technique.
For more info on Mozilla-related accessibility, check out http://www.mozilla.org/access
There's info on all of our accessibility-related projects, plus info for screen reader and other assistive technology vendors who wish to develop compatibility with products based on Mozilla technologies. There's also a newsgroup and mailing list on there.
Should be Fedora Core Release 3 Dumped
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
What browser do they recommend?
Blindows: http://www.audiodata.de/e/products/blindows.php Why didn't they ever get sued?