----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Korn" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 2:15 AM
Subject: GNOME 2.4 desktop to include first editions of assistive
technologies
Greetings,
The Sun Accessibility team is delighted to inform you that the GNOME
2.4.0 desktop release, planned for mid-September 2003, is slated to
include the first editions of two assistive technologies: the
Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier and the GOK dynamic on-screen
keyboard. Support for people with disabilities has been a key goal and
focus of the GNOME 2 desktop platform, and successive releases have
included increasing support for accessibility. With 2.4.0, users will
be able to evaluate GNOME with assistive technologies.
The editions of Gnopernicus and GOK that will be part of GNOME 2.4 are
well along in their development cycle; however the GNOME accessibility
community -- and specifically BAUM Retec AG and the University of
Toronto Adaptive Technology Resource Centre who are the maintainers of
these projects -- feel that Gnopernicus and GOK need further testing and
development before they are ready for production use by people with
disabilities. With Gnopernicus and GOK in GNOME 2.4, it will be easy
for a large audience to explore these assistive technologies and
provide feedback to their developers. Essentially this is a large,
public beta test of the GNOME desktop assistive technologies.
To review the GNOME 2.4 development schedule, please visit:
http://www.gnome.org/start/2.3/
About GNOME
===========
The GNOME project includes a graphical desktop user environment and a
set of user interface libraries. GNOME is included in a number of
GNU/Linux distributions (such as those from RedHat, SuSE, Ximian, Mandrake,
etc.) and it will become the standard user environment for the Sun
desktop. The GNOME 2 desktop includes full support for mouseless
operation from the keyboard, and a themeing mechanism that ships with
several custom designed themes for high- and low-contrast use, as well
as large print, providing support for a variety of vision impairments.
Finally, the GNOME 2 desktop includes a built-in accessibility
framework, supported by the key desktop applications, which provides
rich, detailed information about all of the user interface elements on
the screen. The Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier and GOK on-screen
keyboard are two assistive technologies in development that utilize this
framework.
For more information on GNOME, please visit:
http://www.gnome.org
For more information about the GNOME Accessibility Project, please
visit:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap
The Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier
=======================================
Gnopernicus is an open source screen reader/magnifier that enables users
with limited vision, or no vision, to use the GNOME 2 desktop and GNOME
applications effectively. By providing automated focus tracking and full
screen magnification, Gnopernicus aids low-vision GNOME users, and its
screen reader features will allow low-vision and blind users to access a
large range of applications via magnification, speech and braille output.
BAUM Retec AG (http://www.baum.de/) is guiding Gnopernicus development,
and is also the principal author and project maintainer. BAUM has been
developing screen reading and magnification software, as well as other
software and hardware products for the blind, for over 20 years. The
company's current products include the POET reading machine, the Vario
40, Vario 80, and DM 80 plus Braille displays, the Galileo screen
magnifier for Windows NT, the Virgo screen reader for Windows & Windows
NT, and the Visio low-vision workstation.
More information about Gnopernicus can be found at:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/AT/Gnopernicus
and also at:
http://www.baum.ro/gnopernicus.html
The GOK dynamic on-screen keyboard
==================================
GOK is an open source, dynamic on-screen keyboard that enables users to
control their computer without having to rely on a standard keyboard or
mouse. Supporting the majority of single-switch devices already on the
market, GOK allows users with limited voluntary movement to completely
control and interact with their GNOME 2 desktop via one or more
alternative input devices, choosing from a wide range of input
techniques and configurations. These input methods may be controlled by
actions such as blowing and sipping to activate a pneumatic switch, an
eye blink and/or directed gaze with an eye tracking system, head
movement, muscle contractions, or limb movements.
Using innovative dynamic keyboard strategies, and leveraging the
built-in accessibility framework of GNOME 2, GOK makes desktop and
application control and interaction tremendously more efficient for
users with severe physical impairments. GOK directly presents on the
dynamic keyboard the users' menu options, toolbar choices, and text
manipulation commands, thereby saving the user the time and frustration
of having to enter lengthy series of keyboard sequences to invoke those
commands. GOK also includes a word completion dictionary to speed text
entry.
The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (http://atrc.utoronto.ca/) is
guiding GOK development, and is also the principal author and project
maintainer. The University of Toronto's ATRC research and development
lab brings strong leadership to the project with expertise in
alternative input devices and software, and also a sincere passion
regarding accessibility issues. The team has already produced a
full-featured onscreen keyboard for another platform.
More information about GOK can be found at:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/AT/GOK
and also at:
http://www.gok.ca
On behalf of the Sun Microsystems & the GNOME Accessibility team,
Peter Korn
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
http://www.sun.com/access
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