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  1. JDK
  2. JDK-6985570

accessibility - is more content needed

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      URL in question:
      http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/ui/features/access.html
      Hello,

      I've got some suggestions on how to make your tutorials more
      informative to new Java developers concerning an important aspect of
      Java in general and the swing classes in particular. I was checking
      out your tutorials today and noticed something about the page you
      wrote on accessibility. There is little practical information on
      how a new developer would make their applications accessible from the
      beginning. There are no code examples, no caviats, no quizes of any
      kind. There's just a short paragraph with a link that doesn't work
      anymore and instructions to put keyboard shortcuts and tooltips in the
      application. This is very sketchy and seems as though it was added as
      an afterthought. This is most distressing to someone who uses a
      screen reader I must say. The Java access bridge was not mentioned
      nor was there anything in there about how the program needs to be
      written to take full advantage of the Java Accessibility Api. As
      someone who depends on accessible software to make a living, I found
      it very disturbing that the tutorials provided by the company who now
      owns Java appear to give very little in the way of guidance to people
      learning the language with regard to making apps accessible. It is
      little wonder that when I bring the matter up to developers during the
      process of prospecting new software for my company that they have no
      idea what I'm talking about and never implement it into their
      applications from the beginning. Instead, there's a scramble to patch
      it up here and there. Or, I encounter outright resistance to
      suggestions that they make their software accessible on the grounds
      that it would mean changing their entire source code to accomodate me.
       I had this matter come up with a package called Toolbooks as a
      matter of fact if you'd like an example.

      I think this happens in large part because tutorials either
      intentionally or otherwise almost never address this with aspiring
      programmers instead treating it as something of an arcane extra
      feature that is optional or that is only to be added when they are
      compelled by law to do so. As a result, companies can loose sales
      because potential buyrs of software require that it be accessible for
      their employees, end users who rely on assistive technologies have to
      rely on out dated or hacked up solutions that are far from the ideal
      application needed for the job, and developers often have to spend a
      lot of extra time learning about something that might've been
      introduced from the beginning of their encounter with the language.
      Then there is the time and effort that has to be spent on reworking an
      application to make it accessible. A thorough explanation on how and
      why to implement this functionality into their applications from the
      start while they are learning Java would go a long way towards
      ameliorating this situation. Oracle is in an excelent position to
      help with this buy expanding the information in the Java tutorial they
      provide to include practical examples and helpful suggestions so that
      new developers make their applications accessible from the beginning.

      Sharon's response:
      Actually, that is a short overview describing the capabilities of client Java. What you want is the actual Accessibility lesson:
      http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/misc/access.html

      inside the Swing Tutorial:
      http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/index.html

            rgallard Raymond Gallardo
            skannan Sowmya Kannan (Inactive)
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