1. Sun's Approach To Accessibility Concertation Meeting 19 May 2003
presented to the
Concertation Meeting 19 May 2003
Marney Beard
Manager, Accessibility Program Office
Sun Microsystems, Inc.

2. Overview
Sun's commitment: “Anyone, anywhere, any time, on any device.”
Sun's technology contributions - The Java Platform - GNOME open source - Growing interest from diverse communities
Product directions - Desktop and beyond
Opportunities for collaboration - Open Source - Open Standards

3. Sun's Commitment to Accessibility
“The Network Is The Computer” but systems powered by Sun ultimately interact with real people. These systems range from massive multi-processor servers to desktop computers and hand-held devices -- supporting use by anyone, anywhere, at any time, on any device.
Sun's goal is to provide alternatives and opportunities to users with special needs, on platforms sold by Sun and by other vendors.
Sun's technology is designed to support flexible development of Assistive Technologies, a wide development community, and broad support for accessibility.
We strongly believe in accessibility built in, not bolted on.

4. Sun's Contributions to Accessibility in Java Technology
1997: Accessibility for the Java (tm) Platform is defined.
Today: The Java Accessibility API is now built into the Java Foundation Classes (Swing), allowing mainstream software developers to create applications that are highly accessible with virtually no additional work.
Oracle, OpenOffice, and others have implemented the JAAPI in their user interface toolkits.
Accessible applications written with these Java toolkits run on Windows, UNIX, and Linux.

5. Sun's Contributions to the GNOME Open Source Platform
2001: Accessibility for the GNOME desktop platform is defined.
Today: Developed by Sun and others in the open source community, the GNOME Accessibility Framework comprises the Assistive Technology Service Provider Interface (AT-SPI) and accessibility built into the GTK+ toolkit.
Transparent connections for other toolkits are also provided. For example, Mozilla, OpenOffice, and applications written in Java all participate in GNOME's accessibility architecture.
In partnership with Sun, expert developers of assistive technologies have built a screen reader/magnifier (Gnopernicus) and a GNOME onscreen keyboard (GOK). Both are candidates for inclusion in the core GNOME distribution.

6. Sun's Technology Approach
Basic fact: Assistive Technologies acquire information from desktop applications by one means or another. It's inefficient for AT to gain information by guesswork.
The key to Sun's approach is a comprehensive and reliable interface, making a clear division of labor among the platform, the application, and the AT. This is the heart of the Java Accessibility API and the GNOME Accessibility Framework.
With GNOME, we have the first open source user environment to enable accessibility for diverse applications.
Ratification of Sun's approach: Helen Keller Achievement Award in Technology from the American Foundation for the Blind - Trophées du Libre awards for Gnopernicus and GOK

7. Sun's Product Directions
Continued fine-tuning and enhancements to the Java platform, providing additional support for very demanding applications (e.g., office suites).
Sun's delivery of the GNOME desktop, on Solaris and Linux, on Sun hardware and PCs.
Continued contributions to open source: Mozilla, OpenOffice, GNOME, Linux.
Short-term minimum: Meet customer requirements in Sun's main markets, including the U.S. Federal government.
Long-term goals: - Meet users' needs beyond government standards - Apply accessibility technology to mainstream uses - Apply small-device capabilities for even greater accessibility

8. Collaboration: Open Source and Open Standards
All source code is available for examination. Interfaces and applications can be studied and understood.
AT developers can fix bugs and release their own patches. Contributions can go back into the common source, improving the base for all.
AT may be open source too. Acting as the "maintainer," an ATV can choose to accept code contributions from others.
Interest among more mainstream developers in the GNOME community is growing. Good ideas and constructive criticism abound.
Development of open standards (e.g., via the Java Community Process) is another avenue to collaboration and innovation.

9. For More Information . . .
Sun's Accessibility Program
Accessibility on the Java Platform
Accessibility for the GNOME desktop to

10. Marney Beard