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| <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="StarOffice 8 (Win32)"> |
| <META NAME="AUTHOR" CONTENT="Malte Timmermann"> |
| <META NAME="CREATED" CONTENT="20030812;18151400"> |
| <META NAME="CHANGED" CONTENT="20061031;17031880"> |
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| <H1 ALIGN=CENTER>OpenOffice.org 2.0 Accessibility White Paper</H1> |
| <P ALIGN=CENTER><B>August 2006, Malte Timmermann</B></P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <OL> |
| <LI><P><A HREF="#_Keyboard Navigation" NAME="Keyboard Navigation"><FONT SIZE=4>Keyboard |
| Navigation</FONT></A></P> |
| <LI><P><A HREF="#_Colors and Fonts" NAME="Colors and Fonts"><FONT SIZE=4>Colors |
| and Fonts</FONT></A></P> |
| <LI><P><A HREF="#_Assistive Technology" NAME="Assistive Technology"><FONT SIZE=4>Assistive |
| Technology</FONT></A></P> |
| <LI><P><A HREF="#_Documentation" NAME="Documentation"><FONT SIZE=4>Documentation</FONT></A></P> |
| <LI><P><A HREF="#_Other Accessibility Features" NAME="Other Accessibility Features"><FONT SIZE=4>Other |
| Accessibility Features</FONT></A></P> |
| </OL> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P STYLE="border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0.07cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm"> |
| <BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H2><A NAME="_Keyboard Navigation"></A>Keyboard Navigation</H2> |
| <H3>Full Keyboard Navigation and Control</H3> |
| <P>Full keyboard navigation gives the users the ability to perform |
| all input via a keyboard, without using a mouse or other device.</P> |
| <P>The new and improved features are:</P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Complete keyboard shortcuts in the different applications</P> |
| <LI><P>Full keyboard access to toolbars</P> |
| <LI><P>Keyboard-enabled switching between document windows, menus, |
| toolbars, modeless dialogs and floating windows</P> |
| <LI><P>Enhanced keyboard navigation in text documents and online |
| help to navigate and activate hyperlinks</P> |
| <LI><P>Menu and toolbar items for accessing functions which where |
| only accessible via mouse device</P> |
| <LI><P>Disabled menu items are displayed per default</P> |
| <LI><P>You can access help tips via keyboard</P> |
| <LI><P>You can set the duration for the display of help tips</P> |
| <LI><P>Keyboard access for Drawing Objects</P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Drawing objects can be inserted via toolbar with default |
| position and size</P> |
| <LI><P>Each handle of a drawing object can be selected and |
| controlled via keyboard separately, so even polygon manipulation is |
| possible</P> |
| </UL> |
| <LI><P>Redesign of several dialogs, including</P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>New toolbar customization dialog</P> |
| <LI><P>Improved CSV import control for spreadsheets</P> |
| </UL> |
| </UL> |
| <P STYLE="border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0.07cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm"> |
| <BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H2><A NAME="_Colors and Fonts"></A>Colors and Fonts</H2> |
| <H3>Use of System Color Schemes, High Contrast</H3> |
| <P>OpenOffice.org adapts to the color schemes and contrast display |
| settings of the operating system. |
| </P> |
| <P>In addition, OpenOffice.org offers additional settings for colors |
| which are not specified in any system color schemes, as well as the |
| possibility to overwrite colors from the current color scheme. You |
| can create and store your own color schemes in OpenOffice.org.</P> |
| <P>The help system respects the colors from the current color scheme, |
| but also provides different predefined styles. Users can customize |
| the formatting of the help content via the xsl transformation file as |
| well as via the custom style sheet file located in the help |
| directory.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>Automatic Text Color</H3> |
| <P>All OpenOffice.org applications now support automatic text color |
| for documents and use this per default, so the text is always |
| readable independent from the background color.</P> |
| <P>The text will be displayed in the system text color. If this leads |
| to dark text on a dark background, or bright text on a bright |
| background, the text will switch to black or white, whichever |
| provides contrast.</P> |
| <P>For reading old or imported documents which use hard-formatted |
| text colors, you can use the new option 'Use automatic font color for |
| screen display'.<BR>All text content as well as table borders and |
| some other elements will be displayed in the automatic font color.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>New Icons and Bitmaps</H3> |
| <P>OpenOffice.org provides complete new icon sets for small and large |
| toolbar icons in normal and in high contrast mode, so the icons are |
| more easily identifiable in the different modes. |
| </P> |
| <P>All UI elements displaying a graphic offer an alternative graphic |
| for high contrast mode.</P> |
| <P>OpenOffice.org automatically chooses the set of icons and graphics |
| appropriate for the current system settings.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>High Contrast Mode for Impress and Draw</H3> |
| <P>Impress and Draw offer a high contrast mode, in which objects are |
| displayed without fill colors or text colors.</P> |
| <P>This mode will automatically be used when high contrast is chosen |
| in the system settings. You can turn off this automatic detection in |
| the OpenOffice.org options under “Accessibility “.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>System Font</H3> |
| <P>OpenOffice.org can use the operating system font for the user |
| interface, so that OpenOffice.org appears in the same font as your |
| other applications and can be manipulated via the system settings.</P> |
| <P>There is special handling to ensure that dialogs do not become |
| larger than the screen when schemes with large fonts are chosen.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>More Changes</H3> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Highlighted toolbar and menu items are now more perceptible.</P> |
| <LI><P>There is improved highlighting of current column and row in |
| spreadsheets.</P> |
| <LI><P>You can turn on/off animations for graphics and text.</P> |
| </UL> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
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| <BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H2><A NAME="_Assistive Technology"></A>Assistive Technology</H2> |
| <H3>API for Supporting Assistive Technologies</H3> |
| <P>Assistive Technology (AT) tools such as screen readers and |
| magnifiers, as well as other tools, connect to OpenOffice.org using |
| the Java Accessibility API (JAA) via the Java Access Bridge for |
| Windows or GNOME.</P> |
| <P>OpenOffice.org now has a UNO Accessibility API (UAA) in which all |
| elements of the UI and documents expose all the information about |
| themselves and their contents.</P> |
| <P>UAA and JAA have some advantages over the off-screen models of AT |
| tools or the Microsoft Active Accessibility API (MSAA). <BR>UAA and |
| JAA provide extended information for the document content, so AT |
| tools do not have to get information via different proprietary |
| application APIs from various applications, or by hooking into the |
| display drivers.</P> |
| <P>An enormous effort has been made to have UI elements and document |
| contents fully support the accessibility interfaces, for example: |
| providing text with attributes and character bounds information, |
| sending all the necessary notifications and providing names and |
| descriptions of controls.</P> |
| <P>All AT tools which are able to work with Java applications via the |
| Java Access Bridge will also run with OpenOffice.org. |
| </P> |
| <P>The Java Accessibility API is supported by the most popular AT |
| tools including: |
| </P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>JAWS Screen Reader</P> |
| <LI><P>ZoomText Screen Reader and Magnifier</P> |
| <LI><P>Gnopernicus Screen Reader and Magnifier.</P> |
| <LI><P>GNOME On Screen Keyboard (GOK)</P> |
| </UL> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P>Some AT tools send key events to the applications via the message |
| loop, or simply control the mouse, so it makes no difference for the |
| application if the input comes from a user or from an AT tool.</P> |
| <P>This way, a lot of AT tools such as simple on-screen keyboards, |
| head mice, eye tracking devices and single switches can be used with |
| OpenOffice.org.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>Support for Comfortable Reading of Read-Only Documents</H3> |
| <P>Screen reader users sometimes have difficulty reading read-only |
| documents because they cannot navigate with the cursor through the |
| document.</P> |
| <P>For this, we introduced the feature 'Use text selection cursor in |
| read-only text documents'.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>More Changes</H3> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Floating windows, dialogs and menus are now system windows</P> |
| <LI><P>Every individual drawing object can have a name</P> |
| <LI><P>All sample documents and templates are enhanced to provide |
| names and descriptions for drawing objects</P> |
| </UL> |
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| <BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H2><A NAME="_Documentation"></A>Documentation</H2> |
| <H3>Accessible Documentation</H3> |
| <P>All user documentation is provided in HTML and PDF formats so |
| users can use screen readers and magnifiers to read the |
| documentation.</P> |
| <P>Hyperlinks and graphics in the HTML documentation have names and |
| alternate tags.</P> |
| <P>All keyboard shortcuts are documented in the online help.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H3>Accessible Online Help</H3> |
| <P>The online help provides information on how to use all the |
| accessibility features in OpenOffice.org.</P> |
| <P>The online help is accessible itself. Users can access it using |
| screen readers, magnifiers and on-screen keyboards.</P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
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| <BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <H2><A NAME="_Other Accessibility Features"></A>Other Accessibility |
| Features</H2> |
| <P>Previous OpenOffice.org releases already offered some features |
| helpful for accessibility:</P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Zoom in or zoom out in a document</P> |
| <LI><P>Position mouse to default button or center in dialogs</P> |
| <LI><P>Configuration</P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Assign a shortcut key to a command</P> |
| <LI><P>Show all commands on menus</P> |
| <LI><P>Change the size of toolbar buttons</P> |
| <LI><P>Customize menus and toolbars</P> |
| <LI><P>Display or hide a toolbar</P> |
| <LI><P>Create a custom toolbar</P> |
| </UL> |
| <LI><P>Automating tasks</P> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><P>Correct misspelled words as you type</P> |
| <LI><P>Quickly set AutoCorrect and Paste options</P> |
| <LI><P>Add AutoCorrect entries for misspellings and typing errors</P> |
| <LI><P>Use AutoComplete</P> |
| <LI><P>Automatically make AutoText entries for frequently used text</P> |
| </UL> |
| </UL> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
| <P><BR><BR> |
| </P> |
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