GNOME 2.4.0 with AT, StarOffice 7.0, AccessBridge 1.0.4

[Peter Korn <peter korn sun com>]

Greetings,

The Sun Accessibility team is delighted to announce:

   - The community release of the GNOME desktop version 2.4.0.
     This release includes two assistive technologies: version 0.7 
     of the Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier, and version 0.8 of
     the GOK dynamic on-screen keyboard, as core parts of the GNOME
     desktop.  This is the first time ever that full featured assistive
     technologies have been included as a core part of a graphical
     desktop environment.  This community release forms the basis 
     of commercial product releases to come from UNIX and GNU/Linux
     operating system vendors such as Sun, RedHat, SuSE, and others.

   - The release of StarOffice 7.0, the first accessible edition 
     of the StarOffice office productivity suite, including 
     word processing, spreadsheet, presentation package, database 
     application, and equation editor.  Also soon to be released 
     is OpenOffice.org version 1.1, the open source edition of 
     StarOffice containing the vast majority of the StarOffice
     features including accessibility support.  Support for
     assistive technologies under Microsoft Windows requires the
     new release of the Java (TM) Access Bridge (see below).
     Accessibility support is automatic under the GNOME 2.4.0 
     desktop (see above).

   - Java (TM) Access Bridge version 1.0.4 for the Microsoft Windows 
     operating system, which allows existing assistive technology 
     products  such as screen readers and screen magnifiers for the 
     Microsoft Windows operating system to provide access to Java
     applets and applications which support the Java Accessibility API.
     This release includes a number of bug fixes, and introduces 
     support for the Microsoft Windows editions of the StarOffice and
     OpenOffice.org office productivity suite.



About GNOME
===========

The open source 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.  Also, 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 version 2.4.0 community release of the GNOME desktop includes two
assistive technologies that are core components of that desktop: the
Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier, and the GOK dynamic on-screen
keyboard.  For this first time with this community release of the GNOME
desktop users with a wide range of disabilities will be able to get a
complete solution in one place.  Commercial UNIX and GNU/Linux companies
will soon be shipping the GNOME 2.4 desktop with their platform
releases.  

For more information on GNOME 2.4, please visit:

   http://www.gnome.org/start/2.4/

For more information about the GNOME Accessibility Project, please
visit:

   http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap



The Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier
=======================================

Gnopernicus is a full-featured, 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/2000/XP, the Virgo 4 screen reader for Windows
NT/2000/XP, and the Visio low-vision workstation.

Gnopernicus supports over 50 Braille displays from 14 different vendors,
thanks to contributions from the open source community and the BrlTTY
project.  Thanks to the contributions of the GNOME translation project
team members, the graphical user interface of Gnopernicus has been fully
translated into Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, German,
Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Serbian Latin, Spanish,
Swedish, and Welsh; and has been partially translated into Albanian,
Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French,
Greek, Hindi, Irish Gaelic, Malay, and Norwegian bokmål.  Translation
work remains still for the Braille tables in these languages, as well as
the necessary text-to-speech engine support.

Version 0.7 of Gnopernicus is well along in the development cycle;
however BAUM and the GNOME accessibility community feel it needs further
testing and development before it is ready for production use by people
with disabilities.  By being included with GNOME 2.4.0, it is easy for a
large audience to explore Gnopernicus and provide feedback to the
developers.

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 list of supported Braille displays, supported via the BrlTTY
project, can be found at:

   http://www.mielke.cc/brltty/details.html#displays



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.

Thanks to the contributions of the GNOME translation project team
members, the graphical user interface of GOK has been fully translated
into Albanian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Brazilian Portuguese, Catalan,
Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek,
Japanese, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Serbian Latin,
Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Welsh.  Furthermore, the GOK graphical
user interface has been partially translated into Amharic, Chinese
(Traditional), Hindi, Italian, Korean, Malay, Malaya lam, Norwegian
bokmål, Slovak, Tamil, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

Version 0.8 of GOK is well along in the development cycle; however the
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre and the GNOME accessibility
community feel it needs further testing and development before it is
ready for production use by people with disabilities.  By being included
with GNOME 2.4.0, it is easy for a large audience to explore GOK and
provide feedback to the developers.

More information about GOK can be found at:

   http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/AT/GOK

and also at:

   http://www.gok.ca



The StarOffice and OpenOffice.org office productivity suite
===========================================================

StarOffice is a powerful, flexible, and feature rich suite of office
productivity applications for the Solaris, GNU/Linux, and Microsoft
Windows operating systems.  StarOffice application functionality
includes word processing (supporting export to HTML and PDF formats),
spreadsheet manipulation, a complete presentation package, an equation
editor, database functionality, and a drawing package.  StarOffice reads
and writes Microsoft Office file formats, making it an excellent and
economical substitute that nonetheless allows for interoperability with
Microsoft Office.

OpenOffice.org is the open source project and application which includes
the vast majority of the StarOffice functionality, and forms the basis
of the StarOffice application itself.  In addition to the Solaris,
GNU/Linux, and Windows platforms, OpenOffice.org has been ported to Mac
OS X.

Version 7.0 of StarOffice, and version 1.1 of OpenOffice.org, provide
rich support for accessibility.  Both products are fully keyboard
accessible.  Further, they both support the desktop theme, color, and
font size settings of the user under Microsoft Windows and the GNOME 2
desktop - supporting users with range of vision impairments.  Finally,
both provide initial support assistive technologies - under Windows via
the Java Access Bridge version 1.0.4 (see below), and under the GNOME 2
desktop.

More information about StarOffice (and a demo download) can be found at:

  http://wwws.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/

More information about OpenOffice.org can be found at:

  http://www.openoffice.org/

The OpenOffice.org accessibility project can be found at:

  http://ui.openoffice.org/accessibility/
 


The Java Access Bridge for the Microsoft Windows operating system
=================================================================

The Java Access Bridge is a technology which allows native assistive
technologies (such as screen readers, magnifiers, etc.) to make use of
the Java Accessibility API in the Java 2 platform, and thereby provide
access to Java applications and applets. 

The Java Access Bridge for the Microsoft Windows operating system
consists of a pair of Windows DLLs (dynamic link libraries), and a Java
language classfile, which together make a bridge for the Java
Accessibility API between the Java virtual machine and the Microsoft
Windows host platform.  Several vendors of assistive technologies for
Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, and XP have announced support for the Java
Access Bridge in their products.  Freedom Scientific supports the Java
Access Bridge in their shipping JAWS for Windows screen reader, and Ai
Squared supports the Java Access Bridge in their shipping ZoomText Xtra
screen magnifier. 

The Java Access Bridge includes an installer, which will install both
the Java Access Bridge, and the appropriate Java Accessibility
Utilities, into the Java virtual machines under Windows 95, 98, 2000,
NT, and XP.  This release of the Java Access Bridge supports JDK 1.1.8
with Swing/JFC 1.1 and greater, Java 2 SDK 1.2.2, Java 2 SDK 1.3, and
Java 2 SDK 1.4, as well as the respective Java runtime environments. 
The Java Access Bridge also supports the Java Web Start technology.  
This release introduces support for the StarOffice and OpenOffice.org
office productivity suites.

The Java Access Bridge may be redistributed royalty free (please read
the license agreement contained in the package for terms and
conditions). 

The Java Access Bridge for the Microsoft Windows operating system is
described at, and can be downloaded from:

   http://java.sun.com/products/accessbridge 




On behalf of the Sun Microsystems & the GNOME Accessibility team,

Peter Korn
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
http://www.sun.com/access