[g-a-devel]UNIX Accessibility series at CSUN, March 21, 2002

[Peter Korn <korn sun com>]

Sun Microsystems, Inc. is hosting a series of sessions on UNIX Accessibility
at the CSUN Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities at the Los
Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel on March 21st.  This comprehensive series of
six sessions will run all day Thursday March 21st in the Atlanta-Boston room,
and is part of the general CSUN conference.  In addition, Sun Microsystems is
hosting a session at the end of the day Thursday on topics in accessibility
to the Java platform, including a demonstration of access to Java
applications from ZoomText version 7.1.  Information about the CSUN
conference can be found at: http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf2002/

The Sun Accessibility team invites everyone who has an interest in finding
out the latest information about accessibility to UNIX systems, including
access to Solaris and GNU/Linux, to join us for this in-depth series. 
Included in this series will be demonstrations of open source assistive
technologies for UNIX systems utilizing the GNOME Accessibility framework to
be released later this year.  We will also provided a guided tour of the
accessible GNOME desktop for UNIX systems, present the GNOME Accessibility
architecture with information on how to make UNIX applications accessible,
and of course take questions.

Attached below is information about this series of presentations.  We hope
you can join us.

In addition, Sun Microsystems will be hosting demonstrations of assistive
technologies for Solaris systems at their booth throughout the conference.


On behalf of Sun Microsystems,

Peter Korn
Sun Microsystems Accessibility team
access sun com
http://www.sun.com/access


==========================================================================

   CSUN Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities
      UNIX Accessibility series, Thursday March 21st, 2002
  Atlanta-Boston rooms of the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel
                 hosted by Sun Microsystems, Inc.


 8:00am-9:00am
 UNIX Accessibility overview
 ---------------------------
 This session provides a high-level overview of the terrain and features
 of the UNIX Accessibility landscape.  We will introduce UNIX, GNU/Linux, 
 and the Solaris(tm) Operating Environment.  We describe the various UNIX
 desktop user environment options, and summarize the different efforts
 underway to make all of the flavors and variants of UNIX accessible,
 including command-line accessibility as well as desktop accessibility.
 This session also serves as an introduction to the five following sessions
 in this room, which will discuss the aspects of UNIX accessibility in
 detail.

 Speakers: 
     - Gregg Vanderheiden, TRACE Center, Madison, WI 
     - Peter Korn, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA
     - J.P. Schnapper-Casteras, Palo Alto, CA
     - Rich Burridge, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA


 9:20am-10:20am
 The Accessible GNOME 2 desktop: An Introduction
 -----------------------------------------------
 GNOME 2.0 is a modern desktop environment for the Solaris Operating
 Environment, Linux, and other UNIX systems, and is open source and free
 software. In this session we will give a guided tour of GNOME and its
 integrated accessibility features. We will begin by demonstrating the
 general features and capabilities of this intuitive desktop, then focus
 on accessibility solutions such as AccessX, keyboard navigation, and 
 theming support.  We will also provide an overview of important new
 assistive technologies being developed for GNOME (two of which are
 discussed in more detail in the following two sessions) and how they
 relate to GNOME's built-in Accessibility Framework.

 Speakers: 
     - Gary Little, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA
     - Peter Korn, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA


 10:40am-11:40am
 Gnopernicus: Screen Reading & Magnification for GNOME
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Gnopernicus is an open source screen reader and screen magnifier for
 the GNOME desktop, with full Braille support.  In this session we will
 demonstrate the features and functionality of Gnopernicus, demonstrating
 how users who are blind, need Braille, or have low vision, can use
 a UNIX workstation for common desktop tasks.  We will also discuss how
 to participate in the open source Gnopernicus project.

 Speaker: 
     - Thomas Friehoff, BAUM Retec AG, Heidelberg Germany


 12:00pm-1:00pm
 GOK: a full featured on-screen-keyboard for GNOME
 -------------------------------------------------
 A detailed demonstration of the open source GNOME On-screen Keyboard
 (GOK)- desktop support for single switch, scanning, and customized
 displays will be shared. Illustration of dynamic keyboard functionality
 that tracks changes in the accessible application being used, and
 information on how to try GOK and take part in the open source effort
 will also be shared.

 Speaker: 
     - Jutta Treviranus, Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, Toronto, Canada


 2:00pm-3:00pm
 The GNOME Accessibility architecture in detail
 ----------------------------------------------
 In this technical session, we will discuss the GNOME Accessibility
 architecture in detail.  Specifically, we will look at the the ways
 in which accessibility support is built into the GNOME platform, how
 GTK+ (and Java) applications expose accessibility information, and
 the way that assistive technologies retrieve and use that information.

 Speakers: 
     - Bill Haneman, Sun Microsystems, Dublin, Ireland
     - Marc Mulcahy, Sun Microsystems, Broomfield, CO


 3:20pm-3:50pm
 Misc. topics in UNIX Accessibility: panel discussion
 ----------------------------------------------------
 Additional and late-breaking topics in UNIX Accessibility, as well as
 a round-table panel discussion with the architects of GNOME and UNIX
 Accessibility.

 Speakers: 
     - Bill Haneman, Sun Microsystems, Dublin, Ireland
     - Marc Mulcahy, Sun Microsystems, Broomfield, CO
     - Peter Korn, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA
     - Earl Johnson, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA
     - J.P. Schnapper-Casteras, Palo Alto, CA
     - Jutta Treviranus, Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, Toronto, Canada
     - Thomas Friehoff, BAUM Retec AG, Heidelberg Germany


 4:10pm-5:10pm
 Topics in Java Accessibility
 ----------------------------
 The latest accessibility news for the Java platform, including a
 demonstration of access to Java applications from ZoomText, and a
 presentation on FreeTTS, an open source text-to-speech engine now
 available for the Java platform.

 Speakers: 
     - Peter Korn, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA
     - Lynn Monsanto, Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, CA
     - Willie Walker, Sun Microsystems, Burlington, MA
     - Mark Nelson, Ai Squared, Manchester Center, VT