Open computing

Open computing is a term that covers both open standards and open source software.

Open standards are the blueprints that provide guidance to developers when they build a software or hardware product. These standards help to ensure that products made by different vendors will either work together or work in a consistent way. IBM is a key participant in the following accessibility standards projects:

• IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS) AccessForAll Metadata specification
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  • Joint Technical Committee-1 (JTC-1) Special Working Group on Accessibility
• Linux Foundation Open Accessibility Workgroups
  • Open Accessibility Workgroup
  • Assistive Technology - Service Provider Interface (AT-SPI) Committee
  • IAccessible2 Committee (Windows accessibility API extension to Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA))
• Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS)
  • OpenDocument Format (ODF) Accessibility Subcommittee
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)
• Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG)
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)

Open source software is software for which the source code is publicly available for re-use. It can also be redistributed, as a whole or in portions. We believe that open source software will uncover new opportunities for users with disabilities and enable assistive technology vendors to work quickly and efficiently to create products for access. IBM is a key participant in open source accessibility projects. We have donated code to several Open Source foundations and organizations. In addition, we are leading and have participated in exciting projects which help developers in many areas of the open computing community: Web toolkits and applications, Windows and Linux® accessibility tools and interfaces, and Eclipse SWT accessibility.

Open Source Accessibility for the Web

• Dojo widget toolkit - API set with widgets and styling options for Web applications
• Access Mozilla project and Firefox
  • Firefox support for ARIA

Open Source Accessibility for Windows

• IAccessible2 - API set for rich document applications

Open Source Accessibility for Linux

• GNOME Accessibility Project (GAP) Enhancements and Fixes
• Accerciser Inspect Tool for Linux ATK/AT-SPI
• Linux Screen Reader (LSR)

Last updated, July 27, 2007