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These resources expand on the information provided in the Full Measure poster Jambu: developing Assistive Technology Software with the Open Source Community which was presented at the RAatE 2007 conference. RAatE is UK's conference focused on the latest innovations in Assistive Technology and Open Source is a part of the innovation and choice available to users.
The A1 size poster is available in PDF and OpenOffice.org presentation format. It may be freely used or modified as license is Creative Commons attribution share-alike. It also prints well when reduced to fit A4.
Open Source offers users an alternative to propritary 'closed-source' software where the code is a commercial 'secret' and a charge is made for initial purchase and subsequent updates. Open Source features non-restrictive licenses and community development. User benefits include low cost (free), community support and the opportunity to have a direct say in features or contribute in other ways. Developers have access to the program code and so can freely study, contribute to or otherwise use, often for new projects.
Users of accessibility and Assistive Technology are often sensitive to cost and need both reliability and customisation, so Open Source offers an interesting option. A more detailed explanation of the issues is provided on our What Is OATS page.
There are accessible Open Source programs that run on Windows and Linux. Linux is itself Open Source and is now mature enough to be as easy to use as Windows but it also comes complete with many valuable programs 'out of the box'. Modern Linux looks very much like Windows, There are differences, but then Vista is different from Windows XP. Accessibility and Assistive Technology are an integral part of Linux with the GNOME desktop (the part that user's see and that developers use) which includes options such as keyboard settings and colour themes. It also provides infrastructure that allows specialist Assistive Technology programs such as screen readers to monitor and control other programs, thus providing alternative access for people who do not use the usual mouse/keyboard/screen combination.
Open Source is most effective when it is collaborative and there are many ways that you can join in: discussing, documenting, translating, designing graphics, checking usability or accessibility, testing, programming, promoting, supporting others and perhaps more we haven't thought of. There may well be project listed below that you would enjoy working on and would benefit from your help. Jambu, like other projects are benefiting from the Mozilla Accessibility Grants funding scheme and donating directly to this scheme is another way to contribute.