A backlash is now brewing against Mass's move to OpenDocument; blind office workers are saying they're worried they won't be able to use it. (See http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/10/25/galvin_attacks_software_proposal ) This is an example of how social issues can sink a migration project -- you really have to go the extra mile to make sure the users feel comfortable.
Unless this argument can be countered quickly, Mass. might have to backtrack and give up on OpenDocument. I looked into this a bit. Support for screen readers was added in OpenOffice 1.1. The page http://ui.openoffice.org/accessibility/at.html describes this support. However, all is not golden. 1) That page is incomplete - it doesn't list all the screen readers people use. 2) That page is not linked from the home page of openoffice.org, it was very hard to find. 3) The accessibility bridge uses Java, and its memory requirements are very high - see http://groups.google.com/group/mailing.comp.open-office/msg/ecdd0f0087459d88 so many users might not be able to use it These three issues need to be dealt with promptly, e.g. before Massachusetts holds hearings on the switch to OpenDocument. Has anyone on this list tested screen readers like JAWS with OpenOffice 2.0? - Dan -- Trying to get a job as a c++ developer? See http://kegel.com/academy/getting-hired.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
