Re: [orca-list] contacting skype users

[Janina Sajka <janina rednote net>]

To get a better handle on the current QT accessibility API vis a vis
Gnome, AT-SPI and ATK, you might want to read the minutes of our Open
A11y telephone conference on this topic from September 25 last:

http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Accessibility/Minutes/Minutes20070925

Janina



Jason White writes:
> 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.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Orca-list mailing list
> Orca-list gnome org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca

-- 

Janina Sajka,   Phone:  +1.202.595.7777;        sip:janina a11y org
Partner, Capital Accessibility LLC      http://CapitalAccessibility.Com

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Chair, Open Accessibility       janina a11y org 
Linux Foundation                http://a11y.org