1. AbI-Kongress
2008-04-09, Berlin
OpenOffice.org & ODF
Accessibility
Malte Timmermann
Technical Architect
StarOffice/OpenOffice.org
Sun Microsystems
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

2. About the Speaker
• Technical Architect in StarOffice/OpenOffice.org
Development
• Working on StarOffice since 1991
> Accessibility
> Security
> Sun ODF Plugin for MS Office
> Architecture and Performance
> Past: EditEngine, VCL, Help System, BasicIDE, ...
• Member of the OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility
Subcommittee
• http://blogs.sun.com/malte
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

3. Agenda
• What is StarOffice / OpenOffice.org?
• Accessibility Features
• Assistive Technology
• OpenDocument Format (ODF)
• OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility SC
• Accessible Document Creation
• Q&A
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

4. What is StarOffice / OpenOffice.org?
• Integrated productivity suite
> Text Processor
> Spreadsheet
> Drawing & Presentation
> Database
> Formula Editor & Chart Module
• Programmability
> Basic interpreter and Basic IDE
> Object Model (UNO)
> Create components in Basic, C++, JAVA or Python, ...
> OpenOffice.org Software Development Kit (SDK)
> Netbeans Plugin for easy extensions development
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

5. What is StarOffice / OpenOffice.org?
• Multi Platform
> Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, ...
• Interoperable with MS Office
> Can read and write MS Office files
> Comparable feature set
• Native document format is ODF (OpenDocument Format)
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

6. What is StarOffice / OpenOffice.org?
• Create (accessible) PDF files
> Tagged PDF, TOC, Hyperlinks, Controls
> PDF/A-1, long-term archiving of electronic documents
• Support for different languages
> Including CJK and CTL languages
> Support for Right to Left and Vertical Writing
• Digital Signatures
> W3C DSig - XML based, open standard
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

7. What is StarOffice / OpenOffice.org?
• OpenOffice.org is Open Source!
> The license is LGPL
• OpenOffice.org was created from StarOffice
> Sun made the code base of StarOffice available as
OpenOffice.org in 2001, with ~5 Million lines of code
> ~90% of current OpenOffice.org development still done by Sun
• Nowadays, StarOffice is simply the Sun branded and
supported version of OpenOffice.org, with some extras
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

8. What is StarOffice / OpenOffice.org?
• StarOffice extras
> Licensed software
> Spell checker and thesaurus
> Database engine (Adabas D)
> High quality fonts, for better multi platform support
> Extra document filters
> Documentation, Templates and Clip Art
> StarOffice includes support
> Optional: Sun's Enterprise Service Support with with 24/7, escalations
and migration services
• Free version of StarOffice for Teachers and Students
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

9. Demonstration
• StarOffice / OpenOffice.org
> Quick overview
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

10. Accessibility
• People with disabilities should be able to work with
OpenOffice.org
• Access for people with disabilities must be
comparable like for people without disabilities
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

11. Accessibility Features
• Keyboard Navigation
• Colors and Fonts
• Documentation
• Accessibility Features
• Assistive Technology
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

12. Keyboard Navigation
• All features must be usable via the keyboard!
> Some users cannot use a mouse
If they can't access every function without one, productivity may
suffer, or the application might be unusable
> Some users cannot see the screen
But they still have a good mental picture of what's there, so
require consistent, reliable keyboard navigation to get around
• Many users find it faster to use the keyboard
• Keyboard Accessibility improves the user experience for
everyone, not just for those with special needs!
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

13. Colors & Fonts
• Adapt to the color schemes and contrast display settings
of the operating system
• Offer additional settings for colors which are not specified
in any system color schemes
• Support for High Contrast and Large Fonts
> Document content might be rendered differently
> OpenOffice.org User Interface uses the default system font, but
the user can choose a different one
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

14. Documentation
• Documentation accessible, available in HTML and PDF
format
• The help system is accessible
• Templates and sample documents follow rules for
accessible document creation
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

15. Accessibility Features
• Read-Only cursor
> Makes it much easier to navigate in read only documents
> Text selection with keyboard is possible
• Theming for help viewer
• Animations for images and text can be switched off
• “Automatic Font Color” as the default for new documents
> To make sure text is readable regardless of the color theming
• Force Automatic Font Color for screen display
> Needed for documents which do not use automatic font color
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

16. Demonstration
• StarOffice / OpenOffice.org
> Scheming, Fonts and Colors
> Accessibility Options and Features
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

17. Assistive Technology
• Screen Readers
> Use speech or refreshable Braille to quot;readquot; the contents of the
screen
• Screen Magnifiers
> Magnify the portion of the screen that the user is interacting with
> Tracking mouse movement, keyboard focus and text entry
• Onscreen Keyboards
> Use the mouse or a simple switch to enter text and to control the
application
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

18. Assistive Technology
• Voice Control
> Use speech to control the application and to dictate the
document content
• Keyboard/Mouse Enhancement Utilities
> Key debouncing, sticky keys, repeat delay/rate
• Alternate Input/Output Devices
> Eye-gaze, simple switches, braille devices, alternate mice
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

19. OpenOffice.org Accessibility API
• To actively support Assistive Technology (AT)
> AT shouldn't have to guess something or to patch the system
> Patching OS and video drivers still bad, but needed, practice on
Windows, because of a missing Accessibility framework
> Standardization and broader adoption of IAccessible2 should fill this
gap
> With standard Accessibility APIs, AT doesn't have to “special
case” for certain applications
> When an AT supports one Office suite via that API, it automatically has
support for other Office suites implementing that API
> Customizations for certain applications are only needed for
convenience features or for improving efficiency of certain work flows
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

20. OpenOffice.org Accessibility API
• Derived from Java and GNOME Accessibility
> To support multiple platforms
• Used for UI and for document representation
> Made enhancements for exposing the document content, which
also led to improvements in Java and GNOME APIs
> OpenOffice.org is probably the first application that fully
exposes the document content and layout via Accessibility API
• Bridged to Java Accessibility and GNOME ATK
> AT doesn't have to know anything about OpenOffice.org or
about that specific Accessibility API
> Currently working on support for the Mac OS X Accessibility
Framework, and on IAaccessible2 for Windows
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

21. AT Support for OpenOffice.org
• GNOME
> Good support for OOo because of GNOME's
well defined Accessibility framework
> Orca (Screen Reader and Magnifier) and GOK (On Screen
Keyboard). All Open Source!
• Windows
> Most AT Vendors don't care much about support for OOo :(
> Some have limited support for OOo through the Java Access
Bridge
> No AT vendor supports the OOo Accessibility API directly
> Overall status on Windows: AT support for OOo is not sufficient
> This should change with IAccessible2 in OOo 3.x
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

22. Demonstrations
• Windows Screen Reader and Magnifier (ZoomText)
• GNOME Screen Reader and Magnifier (Orca)
• GNOME Onscreen Keyboard (GOK)
• Dasher
> Text entry alternative, optimized for eye-gaze users
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

23. OpenDocument Format (ODF)
• Open Document Format for Office Applications
> Or simply OpenDocument or ODF
• Open, not proprietary, ISO standard
> Defined in an open and transparent process
> Mailing lists are open to the public
> Individual members allowed
> Public meeting agendas and minutes
> Received public comments are publicly visible ISO/IEC 26300, May 2006
• Reuse of Established Standards
> SVG, MathML, XForms, XLS:FO, XLink, SMIL, ...
• Public Standard: OASIS and ISO/IEC 26300
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

24. OpenDocument Format (ODF)
• Supported from multiple applications, on multiple
platforms
> Sun StarOffice, OpenOffice.org, IBM Lotus Notes and Symphony, Google
Docs & Spreadsheets, KOffice, TextMaker, AbiWord, Gnumeric
> Microsoft Office via plug-ins, e.g. Sun ODF Plugin for MS Office
> Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, OS, FreeBSD, OS/2, Symbian,
PalmOS, ...
> OASIS ODF TC and ODF Adoption TC members include
Adobe, IBM, Intel, Novell, Oracle, Sun, ...
> ODF Alliance: More than 370 members in less than 12 month
• Gartner says:
> „By 2010, ODF document exchange will be required by 50 percent of
government and 20 percent of commercial organizations (0.7 probability).”
http://www.gartner.com/resources/140100/140101/iso_approval_of_oasis_opendo_140101.pdf
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

25. OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility SC
• Statement of purpose
> Ongoing review of the OpenDocument specification for accessibility, both
to discover potential accessibility issues and to improve the usability and
functionality of creating, reading, and editing office documents for people
with disabilities.
> To provide accessibility related feedback to the OpenDocument Technical
Committee and implementors of the OpenDocument specification.
• Deliverables
> Proposals for accessibility enhancements to the OpenDocument
specification.
> Accessibility related guidelines for OpenDocument implementors and
users.
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

26. Accessible Document Creation
• Accessibility capabilities and features alone are not
enough
• Authors of documents must make sure to help for good
accessibility!
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
> Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
> Version 1 (1999) concentrated on HTML
> Version 2 (public working draft) is more general
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

27. Accessible Document Creation
• Some simple rules
> Create well structured content
> Use named styles ( “Heading 1”, ... ) instead of font changes
> Mark table column and row headers
> For forms, use logical tab order
> Don't rely on color alone
> Ensure that information conveyed with colors is also available without
color
> Use luminosity contrast ratio
> Provide text alternatives for all non-text content
> Each image and each object should have a (unique) name and a
description
> Provide names and descriptions for hyper links
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

28. Accessible Document Creation
• Make sure to keep you documents as accessible as
possible
> When exporting documents to an other portable format, use
HTML or PDF
> There is more AT support for browsers than for PDF viewers
> Latest versions of Adobe Reader are better accessible now, including
Self-Voicing on Windows and Linux
> When using OpenOffice.org to create PDF files, make sure to
create “Tagged PDF”
> When using Adobe Acrobat to create PDF files, also make sure
to not lock out AT by setting security restrictions
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

29. Q/A OpenOffice.org Accessibility
http://www.openoffice.org/Access
OASIS OpenDocument Format
http://www.oasis-open.org
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
http://www.w3.org/WAI
Malte.Timmermann@sun.com
blogs.sun.com/Malte
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility

30. OpenOffice.org & ODF
Accessibility
Malte Timmermann
Malte.Timmermann@sun.com
http://blogs.sun.com/malte
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OpenOffice.org and ODF Accessibility