Thanks for your replies to my questions. I'll keep you and the other
subscribers to this list posted on my efforts to program in Java, in
case anyone else wishes to do so.
Cordially,
Rafael
On Feb 22, 2006, at 11:18 AM, Travis Siegel wrote:
I've not dug into java development, but I have used programs
written in java. Programs written java can be acessible, but it
takes a bit of work by the developers, since the java accessability
apis must be used for anything more complicated than a basic input
screen. Most developers don't use these apis, especially if the
app is cross platform. It is possible to make accessible apps
using java, but for the most part, I've seen more not accessible
than accessable stuff. However, java source itself doesn't seem to
be a problem, so perhaps developing in it won't be a problem for you.
On Feb 22, 2006, at 10:42 AM, Rafael Bejarano wrote:
Hello,
I had no idea that programming on Mac OS 10 was so difficult for
blind programmers. I have been considering learning JAVA on the
Mac. Do you know whether this language is accessible by blind
programmers?
Rafael Bejarano
On Feb 21, 2006, at 10:08 PM, Travis Siegel wrote:
The problem isn't with blindsoftware, it's with the development
tools available for the mac. There are several of us who have
dug into programming on the mac. Unfortunately, the tools aren't
very accessible, and making programs that are very mac-like in
appearance requires use of those tools. When apple makes XTools
accessible, then you will see more blind developers working to
bring you mac applications. The only way to do it now with 100%
accessible tools is either to use terminal applications, or to
use the pascal GPC plugin for XTools. The C and C++ programming
tools can't be used by blind developers to do anything resembling
a standard mac application. Using the pascal plugin allows
creating apps that are very mac-like, but everything needs to be
hand-coded from scratch, including buttons menus, and display
areas. It's relatively easy when compared to the tools we have
to work with when trying to write C or C++ apps, but having to
code everything from scratch isn't exactly a time-saver, not to
mention the need to dig *very* deep to find the information
needed to make standard calls that are done with a click of a
mouse in the C or C++ tools. It all adds up to sighted folks
doing the development, and those generally aren't going to spend
their time making games for blind folks. I've got several
projects in the works, though at the moment, only one or two are
actual games, but progress is slow on most of them, because of
the need to work around the access limitations imposed by the
inaccessible tools we have to work with. Give it time. More
folks will come to the mac, and as they do, more developers will
as well. Given enough time, folks will find other means of
developing that don't require the standard apple tools, (like the
gpc plugins) and then you'll start to see new games and
additional programs appear. Be patient, this is still new, and
those of us who are tackling it now have to learn it largely on
our own, since there's nowhere we can go to ask for help on how
to do this or that using accessible tools. The windows community
has had more than 10 years to get where it is now, and only in
the last couple years have we seen the explosion of developers of
accessible games. Give the mac more time, I have no doubt that
it will eventually meet and even surpass the pc for it's share of
accessible software including games.
On Feb 20, 2006, at 10:28 PM, Rafael Bejarano wrote:
Hello,
Has anyone on this list heard of blindsoftware.com? It is owned
and operated by a blind programmer, whose mission is to develop
Windows applications accessible by the blind. As
blindsoftware.com welcomes suggestions for future releases, I
strongly urge the subscribers to this list to contact this
company, to suggest that it may be financially prudent on their
part to develop software compatible with Tiger and VoiceOver.
I can think of three reasons why blindsoftware.com might wish to
consider doing this. First, Macvisionaries.com has a record of
91 blind computer users who have switched to Tiger and
VoiceOver, many of whom are in need of accessible applications.
Second, apple has a strong presence in education, which, because
of equal-access laws, means that blindsoftware.com has an
untapped market. Finally, critical applications compatible with
Tiger and VoiceOver--namely, spreadsheet and word processing
applications--have yet to be released.
I think that, if enough people wrote to blindsoftware.com
informing them of the need for more applications accessible to
blind Mac users, they might respond.
Cordially,
Rafael Bejarano
