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News on ODF and Accessibility - Updated
Monday, February 05 2007 @ 10:28 AM EST

Update: Here's some news about EOXML, from Computerworld:
Microsoft's bid to get its Open XML formats recognised as an international standard faces a delay for at least three months and could fail altogether, it emerged today.

The British Standards Institute, which represents the UK with the International Standards Organisation, has issued what is called a " contradiction" to Microsoft's specification.

And it is just one of many national bodies that had until today to contradict the application, which was being fast-tracked following its endorsement by the European Computer Manufacturers' Asoociation (ECMA).

* * * *

I wanted to let you know that I am sick today, and that's why things have slowed down. If anyone could OCR IBM-954.pdf [PDF] for me, I'd really appreciate it. I don't know if the Exhibit A [PDF] can be OCR'd successfully, but if so, please do that also. I keep falling asleep.

In the meantime, I thought you'd enjoy to read something posted by Sun Microsystems' Accessibility Architecht Peter Korn on his blog -- some lovely and touching news from the accessibility front about ODF. First, the OASIS ballot for OpenDocument v1.1 has closed, and there were no dissenting votes, so it is now approved as an OASIS Standard. This version represents a lot of work done by and with the disability community. But I'll let Korn tell you the rest.

Here's a bit of what he has to say:

Standards involvement is another facet of what what Joanmarie Diggs notes in her blog entry Accessibility in the "Participation Age" - the increasing active participation of the disability community in setting the directions and standards of the technology that affects their lives as much as everyone else's; and in their direct involvement in developing that technology.

In a recent blog entry, Joanmarie talks about "having spent a decade on the outside, unable to look in — forced to be a consumer rather than a contributor" to access technology. In that same entry, she goes on to say "I cannot tell you how many times I’ve come across an accessibility regression in the Windows environment and have been powerless to do anything about it." But in her work over the last six months on open source accessibility tools providing access to among other things OpenDocument format via OpenOffice.org, Joanmarie says "the fact that I, a mere mortal user, have access to that code and can track such things down and can communicate directly with the engineers pleases me to no end. Open source solutions enable you to shape and refine the tools you need yourself. It may at times be hard work, but it is incredibly empowering work."

Thanks to the contributions of Joanmarie of the Carroll Center for the Blind, and those of Dave Pawson of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, and David Clark of the Institute for Community Inclusion, and Janina Sajka of the Free Standards Group Accessibility working group, and the many other people from the disability community taking part in the open source Orca screen reader effort and the larger UNIX accessibility work, people with disabilities are no longer "forced to be consumers instead of contributors".

When vendors try to play games with standards, it's because they see them as a tool for market share. Isn't it appropriate to be reminded what a standard is really for? Standards are established so everyone can use them equally.


  


News on ODF and Accessibility - Updated | 470 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
News on ODF and Accessibility
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 10:29 AM EST

PJ, no matter what is going on in the standards or the legal
area, your health and well-being are prime.

Take care of yourself.

We can all read SF or murder mysteries for a day or two.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Corrections here please
Authored by: Erwan on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 10:32 AM EST
If any

---
Erwan

[ Reply to This | # ]

Off Topic here
Authored by: Erwan on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 10:34 AM EST
As usual

---
Erwan

[ Reply to This | # ]

Accessibility for All
Authored by: DaveJakeman on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 11:08 AM EST
...people with disabilities are no longer "forced to be consumers instead of contributors".
It's not just the disabled; everyone benefits from Open Standards/Open Source development. Any "mere mortal user" may become a contributor instead of being a consumer.

Well, everyone, that is, but for those that would steadfastly like you to remain a consumer. That's another aspect of freedom.

---
I would rather stand corrected than sit confused.
---
Should one hear an accusation, try it on the accuser.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Vampires beware!
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 11:27 AM EST
FEEL BETTER SOON PJ! Onion and garlic soup does the trick. If it doesn't,
atleast you'll be safe from vampires!

Me.

[ Reply to This | # ]

OCR Work
Authored by: rsi on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 12:08 PM EST
Just to let everyone know, I will be doing the OCR work for PJ today.

Rick Stanley

[ Reply to This | # ]

Wishing Well messages here please
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 12:21 PM EST
PJ, I hope you get better real soon. The world is a different place without you.

[ Reply to This | # ]

IBM-954 is worth the read
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 12:27 PM EST
It's been a while, by my reckoning, since SCO has baldly asserted that Linux is
an unauthorized derivative work of Unix. I had thought that the case now
revolved strictly around the contracts, and mostly the Sequent and Dynix
contracts.

But here it is in all its limited glory.

Page 18: 40: Linux is a derivative work based on SCO's UNIX System V, Release 4
("SVr4"), (Ex. 276 at 31-33.) Linux is substantially similar to SVr4.
(Id.)

41: IBM's experts do not dispute that Linux is a derivative of SVr4, id., and
they admit that Linux is a "Unix-like system."

42. IBM internal documents also confirm that linux is a derivative work based on
SVr4.

[followed by the usual REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED]

Thanks Rick for volunteering to do the OCR work -- this is a humdinger!

Thad Beier

[ Reply to This | # ]

Thanks & Goose Bumps...News on ODF and Accessibility
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 12:55 PM EST
Thank you for your work!

And thank you PJ for reporting it.

Yes, this is exactly what work is for..its for the people that live here
(Earth). Nothing more. Nothing less.

Profit is good motiviation, but we need establish the rules we use to work
together (i.e. Corporate rules) so that the outcome is still and always for the
benefit of Citizens.

Lets hope Opensource Law applied to software, copyright, patents, and standards
leads the way to little things like Energy policy and "our" conduct of
war.

--tce.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Bill Gates and IBM
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 06:19 PM EST
The Register
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/05/gates_apple_outburst/

>>>
Bourgeoisie Bill's career was helped by his parental
connection to the business charity The United Way; IBM may
well have lost patience with the tiny contractor Microsoft
if Big Blue chairman John Akers hadn't indulged the son of
fellow board member Mary Gates.
<<<

Living in South Florida close to the former HQ of IBM's
PC division I had heard for year that there was a
connection between between the start up of MS and a senior
IBM executive

By the way I believe Mary Gates was Bill's mother.

[ Reply to This | # ]

EOXML unanswered questions
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 05 2007 @ 09:11 PM EST
Was the BSI the only body to note a contradiction ?

Did they only note one contradiction or many ?

Was there no public consultation about the proposed standard ?


I find it hard to believe that only the BSI noted "a contradiction",
given that so many were found just on this website.

[ Reply to This | # ]

No Press Release
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 04:54 AM EST
The British Standards Institution has a Website. Their News Room seems to have contact details and a 'phone number, but no online press releases. They are in Chiswick (between Heathrow Airport and central London) - giafly.

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • How to keep track - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 07:25 AM EST
If fast-track is derailed, time to check o07.
Authored by: tz on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 12:03 PM EST
I've noted that o07 has only been around for two months officially, so hasn't
been in the hands of people who could check. If you have a microsoft-centric
computer, you can get a 60 day "free" trial (IE7, active-x, WGA seem
to all be required).

So if we have 90 days, I propose that people with Windows capable of this and
some OOXML ability test and try to break o07 with 100% valid OOXML.

Extra points for blue-screens, program crashes, program lock-ups (where you
manually have to end things), or security holes.

If o07 is then not compliant with "the OOXML standard", then nothing
is and the only approvable software will be ODF derivatives.

And by all means do the same thing to the ODF implementations so they can be
fixed.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Nation / Citizen expectations for a document standard
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 03:13 PM EST
ISO is a standards organization of Nations - of Citizens.
However, many of the voting seats (ANSI for USA, for example) are fill by
Citizens that are also employees (cash, morgage, medical care) of large
companies.

It appears that some of actions of these memebers may be reflecting a conflict
of interest.

As Nation/Citizens, I would expect a desire for an implemetable, low malware
risk, vendor / language / country neutral, data format as a platform for long
term us, storage, and access for Nation/Citizen records.

As Nation/Citizens I would expect a mindset of 'these are our requirement', now
please compete to full those requirements...vs this is our employers' corporate
market share, don't mess with it.

What non-corporate-employee paths lead from Nation/Citizen interests to votes in
ISO?

--tce

[ Reply to This | # ]

ISO and M$ XML
Authored by: jmc on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 07:22 PM EST
I heard from someone I believe that at least 13 countries have objected to the
M$ proposal and raised contradictions and M$ have (as he put it) "gone
ballistic".

Well done to everyone who put in such hard work!

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • ISO and M$ XML - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 07:56 PM EST
    • ISO and M$ XML - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 08:39 PM EST
  • ISO and M$ XML - Authored by: Gerry on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 08:55 PM EST
Microsoft XML - many nations object to contradictions
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 09:39 PM EST
The article The Contradictory Nature of OOXML (Part II) reports that 19 nations have responded regarding Microsoft's XML format, and at least some of them were contradictions. Usually standards don't get this much attention.

It's not yet known how many were contradictions. Michael Calore reports that "Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and UK are submitting contradictions to OOXML, which may derail a proposed fast track process." If so, that's an extraordinarily long list; standards typically don't even get that many votes for them, so getting that many votes against it this early is a bad sign for Microsoft XML format.

[ Reply to This | # ]
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