Re: [orca-list] contacting skype users

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 01:32:16PM +0000, Michael Whapples wrote:
 
> The QT and Gnome accessible API is a topic with which I would prefer not
> to get involved too much. I think there's simply not enough agreement
> between KDE and gnome and enough people to come forward to help. 

> From what I've read on the gnome-accessibility list, Gnome and KDE are indeed
trying to move in the same direction that should ultimately provide a common
accessibility infrastructure across both. They really don't want to duplicate
work unnecessarily.

Remember that Orca is not just for Gnome, it also works with OpenOffice, Java
accessibility and Mozilla, each of which has its own accessibility API. Adding
KDE should, as I understand it, be possible as well. Now that KDE 4 is
released and the latest versions of QT include an accessibility API, movement
should be possible. KDE are moving toward d-bus as their interprocess
communication mechanism, and the Gnome developers are considering doing the
same, at which point there would indeed be a common infrastructure between the
two.

It is also worth noting that Gnome is the default desktop for many
distributions: Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, and so on. Commercial versions of
these (where applicable) are used in "enterprise" environments. Thus, I think it
is in the business interests of Linux distributors to work toward
accessibility in Gnome, since that's where their users are by default.

The same can be said of Solaris, but I wouldn't regard that as the main
issue, as it seems very likely that leaving Solaris out of account, Gnome is
where the distributors would concentrate their accessibility efforts, as most
of them have (for whatever reasons) chosen it as their default desktop.

The Orca developers should be applauded for striving to make a quality and
reliable piece of software, instead of taking the narrow-minded attitude that
less responsible developers and companies would be tempted to adopt of doing
only what is needed to meet the requirements of anti-discrimination laws in
the various countries in which they do business. The same note of appreciation
should be extended to the Mozilla developers, and probably also OO.O although
I'm not as familiar with what they're doing.