Implementing Accessibility Standards
From: SD Times - 09/15/2005 -  No. 134, P. 5
By: Alex Handy

Writing software has become much easier for disabled users thanks to more
ubiquitous tools and standards, but such benefits are only available if
universal access standards are implemented into the application from the
start. This implementation can vary across different companies, but experts
concur that providing accessibility makes good business sense. Sun
Microsystems accessibility architect Peter Korn says accessibility standards
have entered an "access by contract" phase whereby the accessibility
interface consists of a collection of methods contained in each onscreen
object. "These methods provide the information that users of accessibility
technology need," he explains. Paul Snayd with IBM's accessibility technical
team says application programming interfaces can benefit developers as well
as users. He notes that developers need to decide what kind of users their
application is designed for and what functions it must perform. Snayd adds
that certain platforms - Swing, Java, Windows, etc. - offer more to help ease
accessibility programming. "There are [also] lots of helpful checklists and
things on Web sites, setting out what the objectives are," he says. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.sdtimes.com/article/story-20050915-07.html

Links:
Sun Microsystems Accessibility Program
http://www.sun.com/access/

Peter Korn's Weblog
http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/korn/Weblog?catname=%2FAccessibility

IBM Accessibility Center
http://www-306.ibm.com/able/