Hi, Jim. I've pasted the contents of a message posted on the Section 508
list regarding StarOffice accessibility below. Don't know to what extent,
if any, this has changed since the post (dated 8-13-2001). - Jon
Colleagues:
The following request for information was emailed recently to the three
identified 508 officers at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).
We are still awaiting a reply.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 13:08:29 -0400
To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
From: Barbara Jackson LeMoine <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Questions re: StarOffice and Section 508
Cc: [log in to unmask]
American Foundation for the Blind
Governmental Relations Group
820 First Street, N.E., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20002
______________________________
August 2, 2001
Dear Sir or Madam:
We understand from a recent news report that your agency is acquiring
StarOffice for use on some 25,000 Unix and Windows workstations within the
Department of Defense. We are writing you because we have serious concerns
regarding the accessibility of StarOffice for persons with disabilities. We
believe StarOffice is inaccessible. While the GNOME Accessibility Project
(see http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/) may make StarOffice a very
accessible application suite someday, we know of no way to make any of the
applications in this suite work today for people who are blind or visually
impaired. We believe, further, that other disabled persons would also find
these applications inaccessible. We are particularly concerned about the
choice of StarOffice for Windows computers because several accessible
alternatives clearly exist today for the Windows platform.
We are contacting you, as the named 508 Coordinators for the Defense
Information Systems Agency (DISA), to clarify for us the basis by which
this procurement at DISA meets your obligations under the law and
regulations popularly known as Sec. 508:
Can you confirm that a procurement of StarOffice is in
progress at the Department of Defense?
If so, can you offer information or findings from your
research that refutes our understanding that StarOffice is inaccessible to
persons with disabilities on any platform?
Or, is there a plan in place whereby accessibility for
StarOffice will be resolved on or before the date of delivery to the
Department of Defense?
In the event that the procurement is moving forward
without addressing the accessibility concerns, can you please provide us
with an explanation of the basis for this procurement as respects the
Departments legal obligations to persons with disabilities under Sec. 508?
We would be pleased to provide you with further details about our concerns
regarding the accessibility of StarOffice.
Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter.
Please reply to:
Paul W. Schroeder
Vice President, Governmental Relations
202-408-8172
[log in to unmask]
Janina Sajka
Director, Technology Research and Development
202-408-8175
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Allan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 12:50 PM
To: VICUG-L: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
Cc: Steuerwalt, Jon C.
Subject: Accessibility of Word Perfect and Star Office
Hello All,
We are investigating moving from MS Office suite to either Word Perfect
Office or Star Office. I have rooted around Freedom Scientific and GW Micro
websites and find that neither of these products are mentioned. What has
been the experience of the group using screen readers with either of these
Office Suites?
Jim Allan, Webmaster & Statewide Technical Support Specialist
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315 fax: 512.206.9264 http://www.tsbvi.edu/
"I see the Earth. It is so beautiful."--
first words spoken by human in space.
[Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, from the Vostok 1, April 12, 1961.]
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
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