21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Open Source Assistive Technology Software OATS David Colven, Steve Lee & Simon Judge

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference OATS Assistive Technology –Accessibility Advice and tools for ‘mainstream’ –AT Specialist cooperative development The OATS Project FLOSS software and the OATS project Why OATS? What does the OATS project deliver?

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference The Consortium ACT

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference The ACE Centre

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Why OATS? An AT focus for all FLOSS development Individual projects and shared Interested parties contributing together Many skills solving user requirements Focussed, flexible and custom solutions More users with transparent access Transport AT to new horizons

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Assistive Technology AT software market is growing However it is ‘specialised’ Small Market Innovation limited Box fitting – not enough tools Lots of interested individuals across sectors

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference FLOSS What do AT users want? Good design and Innovation Simple installation Transparency Reliability Individual solutions to sometimes complex needs (even with universal design) Low Cost All software not just AT Ask for what they want and get involved

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Benefits Open Source offers an alternative model for developing AT software Well suited to encourage: –Strong collaboration with users –Innovation –Customisation

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference FLOSS Strengths Many projects like OpenOffice and Firefox now meet users needs with excellent features and support Ideal for innovation and customising to individual needs Community and user participation Rapid development and prototyping Free!

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference OATS FLOSS What’s in it for developers Community and User participation Infectious enthusiasm Innovate and share innovations. –Rapid development and prototyping –Common library of tools and components –No wheel re-inventing! Easily available and usable by more users –Their work is useful and is used!

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Aims Software! –Home grown OATS and existing OATS –Resources Standards –Usability –Installers –Software structure –Data transfer –Resources

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Outcomes Pilot project now complete –Developed, fully operational site –Prepared means for a ‘community’ The Future –Oats to continue under day-to-day management –Further development of content, tools etc. –Thriving OS community – come and join in!

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Website ‘All’ Open Source AT software in ONE place Links to free or low cost software Easy to use searching and browsing for software Links between developers and users (fora) Technology transfer from research Full range of development tools in Forge –Trac etc.

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Oats Examples Dasher AutoHotkey PowerTalk Special Access to Windows

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Why did we Open Source SAW? Limited development resources Keep the software free Widen the pool of expertise Open the program to new ideas As an exemplar of AT development

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Automation of the AT User Iinterface The big idea Potential for enhanced & (semi-) automated accessibility for switch and pointer users as part of a new interface design process. Dynamically discover UI structure Extract property information Receiveevent notifications when UI changes Be able to Query an element for its behaviour Click a button, scroll a list, moves a window, etc. Inject keystrokes and mouse input where appropriate

Dynamic Selection Set - A User’s Tool Links and texts extracted automatically and constructed into a selection set SAW works out the number of items needed and constructs a grid of items Information taken from UIAutomation is used to put data into items The wizard also constructs the appropriate script from the available information from the browser

21 st July 2006FLOSSIE Conference Summary Provides a new model for software development in the AT field Encourages innovation Allows users to be heard Is a single place to go for AT software and resources