Orca, the screen reader of the GNOME Desktop, is moving into previously-uncharted territory: giving computer users who are blind -- and the developers of the assistive technologies they use -- a single tool which is more tightly integrated within the platform and designed to access multiple desktop environments, including KDE. Orca, the screen reader of the GNOME Desktop, is moving into previously-uncharted territory: giving computer users who are blind -- and the developers of the assistive technologies they use -- a single tool which is more tightly integrated within the platform and designed to access multiple desktop environments, including KDE. This session will take a brief look back at the history of Orca and screenreaders in general and bring audience up to speed on screen reading technologies. With this foundation laid, the current and future development of Orca will be presented, including the team’s efforts to further eliminate access barriers for people with visual impairments.

1. Orca A screen reader sailing into uncharted waters FOSDEM 2011 Alejandro Leiva <aleiva@emergya.es>

2. Screen readers 101

4. As they navigate using the application's commands

6. Element navigation

7. Font/Formatting information

8. Screen find, etc...

10. Employ “tricks”

11. At best : somewhat unreliable

12. At worst : unusuable

13. BUT no dependence upon applications and toolkits doing the RightThing

15. Direct communication with applications/toolkits

16. At best: very reliable

17. At worst: noticeably slower

18. BUT depends 100% upon applications and toolkits doing the RightThing

19. Welcome to Orca

21. It is a screen reader for AT-SPI/Atk-ready desktops

22. It is an open-source project under the GNOME umbrella

23. It is a project with an impressive user base

25. Official screen reader of GNOME in 2007

26. Always community-focused

27. Now community-run

29. Tracks the caret and focus via AT-SPI events

30. Provides a way to spatially review screen contents

31. Provides customized and customizable handling through applications and toolkits scripts

34. Provide support for users with learning disabilities

35. Provide access to other desktop environments

37. It is hard to “keep up” with external changes.

38. We cannot be a “one size fits all” solution.

39. Contributing to Orca needs to be easier.

40. What We're Planning To Do About It

41. We have a plan ! (Make Orca truly extensible – and more performant )

44. Co-existing with other ATs; not driving them

46. Speech (for users with learning disabilities)

47. Braille

48. Magnification

49. Highlighting

50. Stuff we haven't thought of

52. Review Notifications

53. Caret Navigation

54. Structural Navigation – jump amongst objects

55. Structural Navigation – list of objects

56. Chat Support

57. Live Region Support

58. Skim Reading

61. Application and toolkit idiosyncrasies

62. Reduced (eliminated?) need to know AT-SPI

66. To provide configuration tools

68. Plugin language

69. GUI and settings backends

70. Documentation

72. University programs

73. GSoC

75. More functionality for Orca users

76. More accessible desktop environments

77. Way for other applications to become AT tools

78. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Avenida de la Innovación · 3 · C.P. 41020 · SEVILLA · Tel. 954 51 75 77 · 951 21 04 00 · Fax. 954 51 64 73 · www.emergya.es Thanks for your attention! Questions? More information and free beer Alejandro Leiva < [email_address] > // @gloob