FW: CSUN 2004 report (1/2)

[Koichi INOUE <inoue@...>]

井上です。

　もう見た人がいるかも知れませんが、Peter KornからCSUN 2004のSun関係の
レポートが送られているので転送してしまいます。

　これを見る限り、OracleにはGnopernicus使って仕事している人がいるのかな？
　Gnome SpeechはまだViaVoiceを除外していないんですね。入手可能になるのかな。

----
Subject: CSUN 2004 trip report
From: Peter Korn <peter.korn@sun.com>
To: JA-PR@...
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 20:25:40 -0700
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

Greetings,

Last month was the annual CSUN Conference on Technology and Persons with 
Disabilities.  Sun Microsystems highlighted accessibility solutions for 
computers running UNIX (such as the newly released Sun Java Desktop System, 
the Solaris operating environment, GNU/Linux, and other computer systems). A 
series of 5 sessions on Thursday hosted by Sun went into accessibility 
topics in depth, and a special guest from Oracle corporation demonstrated 
how he uses Gnopernicus daily on his GNU/Linux system as part of his job to 
develop and test software and web pages using Oracle's JDeveloper 10g (a 
large Java development tool).  A session on Friday given by members of the 
Accessibility Working Group of the Free Standards Group discussed the 
development of open and free standards for accessibility.  Visitors to Sun's 
booth could try all of the technologies demonstrated in the sessions, as 
well as see both JAWS and ZoomText supporting Java applications and 
StarOffice.  Many also signed up for the hands-on guided tours of the Sun 
Java Desktop using the Gnopernicus open source screen reader (shown with 
both BAUM and Alva Braille displays) and GOK dynamic on-screen keyboard 
(shown with both the Tash USB switches, the Madentec Tracker and Origin 
Instruments HeadMouse).


Below is a fairly detailed summary of each of the five sessions Sun hosted
on Thursday:


    o The first session Sun hosted was "The Accessible Sun Java(TM) Desktop
      System" - which detailed a compelling and accessible desktop
      alternative built on GNU/Linux with built-in assistive technologies.
      It was given by Peter Korn of Sun's accessibility team.

      Peter began with an overview of the Sun Java Desktop, noting that it
      is built on top of the open source GUN/Linux operating system, and
      uses the open source GNOME graphical environment.  Sun adds to that
      base the StarOffice application suite which reads & writes Microsoft
      Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files; the Mozilla web browser; the
      Evolution e-mail and calendaring application that can use Microsoft
      Exchange servers; an instant messaging application that supports all of
      the instant messaging systems; and of course a full Java platform
      environment - all for a remarkably affordable $100/year/desktop
      license.

      Peter showed what the Sun Java Desktop System looks like, with a
      Launch menu that will be familiar to users of the Windows Start menu,
      and many other elements that will be familiar to Windows users (such
      as the Accessories menu, desktop icons and the trash, and Network
      Places that supports Windows file sharing).  Peter also highlighted
      some of the many desktop applications that come with the Java Desktop
      System including PDF & Postscript viewers, the CD-player and sound
      recorder, a digital camera capture application, Macromedia Flash,
      Real Player, and a video conferencing application.

      Peter then demonstrated the accessibility features built into to the
      shipping Java Desktop System.  He first showed how the entire desktop
      was operable from the keyboard, launching applications, moving their
      windows, and navigating through complex applications.  He then
      demonstrated "AccessX" keyboard functionality (also known as the TRACE
      keyboard accessibility features): StickyKeys, RepeatKeys, SlowKeys,
      BounceKeys, and MouseKeys.  Finally he showed several of the desktop
      themes, including the high-contrast, low-contrast, and large-print
      themes for people with mild visual impairments.

      Peter noted that one of the key problems that schools and enterprises
      face today in deploying accessible desktops is the effective
      requirement of dedicating a system to classes of users with different
      disabilities.  He demonstrated an alternative hardware desktop
      solution from Sun that nicely addresses this issue: the SunRay
      Ultra-Thin network terminal.  He described SunRay as an inexpensive
      network appliance with little more intelligence (and no more state)
      than a telephone system handset: all of the action is in a server with
      the SunRay simply acting as a remote display and input/output
      system for the user.  Describing a typical work-day at Sun, he took
      his actual employee badge - which is also a JavaCard smart chip card -
      and inserted it into one of the SunRay terminals on stage.  He then
      logged into his Solaris GNOME desktop, and choose the high-contrast
      large-print theme setting.  Just as if he were moving to another
      Sun building down the street, he removed his badge, moved to another
      SunRay terminal (which he said could be in another building), and
      inserted it - and instantly saw his high-contrast large-print desktop
      running.  He said that because his session is running on a central,
      networked, Sun server - and not on a physical box on the desk in
      front of him - he had the freedom to move to any SunRay in any
      Sun building in Northern California (and later this year to any Sun
      building in North America!) and get his personal, customized desktop
      immediately.  He finished the SunRay demonstration by describing plans
      to support assistive technologies on SunRay, so that a screen reader
      user would have the same facility with SunRay as anyone else - without
      having to use only the special computer that has the screen reader
      installed.

      Moving into the development realm, Peter switched to a recent build
      of the open source GNOME 2.6 beta desktop, to demonstrate the assistive
      technologies in development for inclusion in a future edition of the
      Sun Java Desktop System.  For people who are legally blind, Peter
      gave a brief demonstration of the Gnopernicus open-source screen reader
      and screen magnifier with Braille support.  He noted several of the key
      features, including support for over 50 Braille display, magnification
      to 16x with picture smoothing, and screen review functionality.  He
      urged attendees interested to learn more about Gnopernicus to return
      in the afternoon for an extended session on it.  Then for people with
      severe physical disabilities, Peter gave a brief demonstration of the
      GOK dynamic on-screen keyboard.  He showed that GOK is far more than
      a simple rendition of an alphanumeric keyboard on the screen, but
      makes use of the accessibility framework in the GNOME desktop to
      present a series of dynamic keyboards containing things like the
      current application's menus, toolbar, and dialog box items for much
      more rapid use by single-switch users.  He urged attendees interested
      to learn more about GOK to return in the afternoon for a dedicated
      session on it.

      Peter then discussed why Sun was leading the open source accessibility
      work in GNOME.  He talked about the four themes behind this work:
      (1) building accessibility in from the start (vs. bolting it on as an
      afterthought); (2) the evolution of screen access technologies from the
      original text console, through the GUI and off-screen models, to the
      approach Sun pioneered first with the Java platform and now in GNOME
      of direct access through supported programming interfaces; (3) Sun's
      proposal of a formal division of responsibility for accessibility:
      the job of the platform, of the application, and of assistive
      technologies; and (4) the idea that the platform, the accessibility
      infrastructure, and even the assistive technologies themselves can
      be open-source, which brings tremendous new opportunities to those
      developing accessibility technologies and the ultimate users of
      desktop computers.

      Peter noted that today users of accessible desktop computers face
      several problems, including the costs of specialized assistive
      technology, the need to dedicate systems for use by various (and
      different) user populations in public settings, that accessible
      systems today are very brittle (don't let a non-disabled user mess
      with it!), and that upgrades are frequent and expensive.  Peter then
      compared this to the Sun Java Desktop System: everything is built in
      at a great price, accessibility is an explicitly supported part
      of the design, and the assistive technology is delivered from the
      same vendor as all of the applications providing a single source for
      service & support.

      Peter asked, and then answered the question of who is using the Sun
      Java Desktop System today: the UK Office of Government Commerce
      is standardizing on it and the UK National Health service is deploying
      it on 800,000 desktops; and the China Standard Software company has
      adopted the Sun Java Desktop System and is deploying 500,000 to 1
      million  copies across China in 2004, the first installment on their
      bid to meet  a government mandate of 200 million open source desktops
      in China by the end of the decade.

      Peter also asked, and then answered the question of who is using
      GNU/Linux: the city of Munich has rejected Microsoft for Linux on
      14,000 desktops; the Brazilian government has decreed that all
      government desktops shall move to Linux; the South African government
      offices are to use Linux; and the Nigerian Ministry of Education
      has adopted Linux.

      Finally Peter ended the presentation with bonus demonstration, showing
      Dasher, an innovative assistive technology developed by the University
      of Cambridge that is optimized for eye-tracking and head-mouse systems.
      Dasher is available on for a number of desktop and palmtop systems,
      but when it is running on GNOME it takes advantage of the rich
      accessibility framework there to allow users direct control of all
      of their applications through the Dasher interface.


      For more information about the Sun accessibility effort, the GNOME
      open source desktop, the GNOME accessibility framework, the Sun
      Java Desktop System, and the SunRay Ultra-Thin client, please see
      the following web pages respectively:

       http://www.sun.com/access
       http://www.gnome.org/start
       http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap
       http://www.sun.com/software/javadesktopsystem
       http://www.sun.com/sunray



    o The second session Sun hosted was "StarOffice 7 - the Accessible
      Office Suite" - which described and demonstrated this rich suite
      of accessible office applications that can read and write files
      from Microsoft Office,.  It was given by Peter Korn of Sun's
      accessibility team.

      Peter began with a history of StarOffice - that it was developed by
      the Germany company Star Division GmbH which Sun purchased several
      years ago.  Sun decided to re-license the overwhelming majority of the
      StarOffice code as open source, creating the OpenOffice.org community
      and application around it.  Peter detailed the 6 key components of
      StarOffice and OpenOffice.org: Writer (a full-featured word processor),
      Calc (a powerful spreadsheet), Impress (the slide presentation package
      that in fact Peter was using for this presentation), Draw (a drawing
      application supports many image formats), Base (a programmable database
      system), and the equation editor with support for MathML.  He then
      noted that these application ship with Sun Solaris, the Sun Java
      Desktop System, and many GNU/Linux distributions; and also that they
      are available on Windows, bundled by Sony and others with their PCs.

      Peter then described in detail the key features of the various
      applications that are part of StarOffice/OpenOffice.org.  He noted that
      Writer reads/writes MS-Word, RTF, text, HTML, DocBook, Palm, Pocket
      Word, and Word Perfect file formats; that it will export to PDF; that
      it can create complex documents, embed charts, spreadsheets, etc.
      all within the document; that it has full style-sheet support; and that
      it provides automatic spelling correction.  He described Calc's
      features, including that it reads/writes MS-Excel, dBASE, SYLK, Lotus
      1-2-3,  DIF, Pocket Excel, HTML file formats; it will export to PDF;
      it can create 3-D charts & graphs; that it supports multiple sheets per
      file; and that it has a large library of functions, including Database,
      Financial, Logical, Mathematical, and Statistical functions.  He
      noted Impress' features, including that it reads/writes MS-PowerPoint
      files; that it will export to PDF, HTML, and Macromedia Flash; that
      it includes a large library of transition, animation & 3-D effects;
      and that it has a built-in spell checker.  Finally, Peter talked about
      the Draw application features, including that it reads/writes AutoCAD,
      EPS, Pict, SVG, Bitmap, GIF, JPEG, Photoshop, TIFF, & PhotoCD files;
      that it will export to PDF, HTML, and Macromedia Flash; that it
      includes vector and bitmap image manipulation tools; and that it has a
      built-in spell checker.  Peter also noted that the native file format
      for all StarOffice and OpenOffice.org files is an open, published XML
      standard, and that the office suites have been translated into many
      languages, with Sun specifically supporting: English, German, French,
      Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Simplified & Traditional Chinese, Japanese,
      and Korean.

      Peter then discussed the accessibility features in StarOffice and
      OpenOffice.org.  He noted that for people with mild physical
      disabilities, virtually every aspect of the office suite is operable
      entirely from the keyboard.  For people with mild visual impairments,
      the office suite supports the selected desktop theme (on both GNOME
      and Windows desktops) - including large print, and high & low contrast
      themes.  And for people needing to use assistive technologies, Peter
      described that both StarOffice and OpenOffice.org implement the
      Java Accessibility architecture - thereby supporting the use of
      JAWS and ZoomText on the Windows platform, and Gnopernicus and GOK
      on the GNOME desktop.

      Peter continued with a demonstration of StarOffice accessibility.  He
      first showed theme support by switching to the high-contrast theme
      of the Sun Java Desktop, and then launching StarOffice Calc, which
      rendered the window in the high-contrast theme.  Staying with Calc,
      Peter built a small spreadsheet using only the keyboard.  He then
      switched to a different computer running the Sun Java Desktop but
      also running the Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier, where he inserted
      a StarOffice demo CD (handed out to everyone in this session) and
      proceeded to install StarOffice with the entire installation voiced
      and magnified by Gnopernicus.  Finally he closed Gnopernicus and
      launched GOK to demonstrate single switch access to StarOffice.  Peter
      discussed the difficulties single switch users have in navigating
      complex dialog boxes and then showed how with GOK and the ability to
      grab the StarOffice toolbar a single switch user could change text
      attributes to bold, italic, and underline for entering text in only
      three keystrokes per attribute change - a dramatic improvement compared
      to single switch users in Windows or Macintosh.

      Not to leave Windows users out, Peter then switched to a computer
      running Windows, and repeated some of the same demos there.  He showed
      StarOffice support for the Windows desktop theme (this time using
      the large-print theme), and he operated the office suite using
      the keyboard exclusively.  He then launched JAWS, and showed JAWS
      reading text in the Writer application.  Exiting JAWS, he launched
      ZoomText, and demonstrated speech and magnification in the Calc
      spreadsheet application.  Finally he showed the Accessibility
      Options dialog, and noted the special accessibility features in
      StarOffice: whether it should support the system colors & fonts,
      whether it should load support for assistive technologies, whether
      it should support keyboard selection in read-only text (where normally
      there is no text caret), and whether it should turn text animation
      off.

      Peter ended the presentation talking about who is using the popular
      StarOffice suite: the 800,000 employees of the U.K. Ministry of
      Health who are moving the Sun Java Desktop System; the 500,00 to
      1 million users of the Sun Java Desktop system that is being deployed
      in China this year; every user of a Sony PC sold outside of the
      United States, and the ~240 million students worldwide attending
      schools that received StarOffice through a $6 billion donation
      Sun made two years ago.  Finally, Peter noted that StarOffice is
      available for purchase directly from Amazon.com, CompUSA, Fry's
      Electronics, Staples, Circuit City, Best Buy, Micro Center, OfficeMax
      and Office Depot, and that it can also be purchased directly from Sun.


      For more information about the StarOffice & OpenOffice.org
      accessibility effort, to purchase StarOffice from Sun, or to
      download OpenOffice.org, please see the following web pages
      respectively:

       http://ui.openoffice.org/accessibility/
       http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/get
       http://download.openoffice.org/1.1.0/