Java Access Comparison

From: Gregg Vanderheiden (gv@trace.wisc.edu)
Date: Sat Oct 18 1997 - 11:20:01 PDT


Trace was asked by several contingents of the disability community to see
what can be done to bring together the two major efforts that are being
undertaken to make Java accessible - one by Sun and one by Microsoft. We
have begun by trying to look at the two Accessibility APIs, and doing some
analyses to compare the two approaches. We've also tried to look at
options for making the systems more accessible. This work we carried out
by Wendy Chisholm and Mark Novak.
In doing this we have been working with both Microsoft and Sun to check for
accuracy of the comparisons and to come up with suggestions. We were
planning on a meeting at CTG to all get together to discuss this further.
 However, the Sun suit against Microsoft regarding Java has brought these
efforts to an abrupt pause. Lawyers have gotten in the soup now
preventing them from talking to each other and it looks like we may have to
hold off further work until some dust settles.
In the meantime we thought we would put some of the work we have done out
on the web for general information. The first piece is a comparison table.
 The Table, along with previous work on Java access, can be found at:
http://trace.wisc.edu/world/web
The Java access links can be found at the top of the Web page.
As there are other developments we will post them to this page as well. As
always we appreciate any comments, suggestions, or feedback on the
materials. If you are involved in or aware of other efforts that we can
coordinate with let us know. We are currently working in conjunction with
U Toronto, IBM, Microsoft, Sun and others.
Thanks
Gregg
Gregg Vanderheiden
Professor - Human Factors
Director, Trace R & D Center
University of Wisconsin - Madison



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:04 PST