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List:       kde-multimedia
Subject:    Using MCOP for Qt Accessibility
From:       JP S-C <jp_sc () yahoo ! com>
Date:       2001-07-26 18:58:58
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Dear KDE-Multimedia list:

     I, along with Ramkumar Duraikannu <linux_ram@yahoo.com>, a graduate
student at the California State University at Sacramento and many other
members of the Linux accessibility community are interested in using
MCOP to make Qt/KDE accessible.  We were previously considering using
DCOP, but then Bill Haneman and Waldo Bastian (among others) brought it
to our attention that MCOP is more data-oriented and DCOP more
function-call oriented.

When I say "making Qt/KDE accessible" I refer to making  certain types
of information contained in GUI's built in Qt easily available outside
to outside applications.   This type of information includes (but is not
limited to) the name, placement, type, state, and properties of a widget
and its relation to other widgets in the application.  Once this sort of
information can be easily obtained from external processes it will be
possible to write a Qt/KDE screen reader (or preferably a Qt module for
a multi-toolkit X windows screen reader, magnifiers, or a piece of
software that outputs information contained in Qt apps to Braille
terminals.  For a basic introduction of adaptive technology (technology
for the disabled) that explains things like screen readers and the
different types of disabilities go to the GNOME Accessibility Project
(http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/).  This big step will allow
low vision and visually impaired users to function in Qt applications,
whether in KDE, Windows, or Mac OS X.

The way in which Java, MS, and (new on the scene) GTK+ accessibility
have made or are making the above-mentioned widget or GUI information
accessible is through an API.  This makes is possible for all
applications written with the toolkit to remain unchanged and for all
the work to reside in the screen reader.

Specifically, we are interested in integrating MCOP into Qt in a
cross-platform fashion.  We would like to be able to then form some sort
of API so we can do things like call a function that will give us all
information about or a specific attribute of an application.

Can you give us advice on how to do this or help us?
Thanks so much for your time and help.

Best,

--JP Schnapper-Casteras

Organizer of the Linux Accessibility Conference 2001 and 2002
Founder and Co-Admin of Project Ocularis
Free Desktop Accessibility Working Group --
www.speechinfo.org/fdwag
Founder of the kde-accessibility mailing list

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