Accessible "Web Access Plug-In" Available for Android Mobile Devices
HILLIARD, OH July 15, 2010 - IDEAL Group Apps4Android, Inc. announced today the release of the first, fully accessible, Open Source, Web Access Plug-In for Android Mobile Devices in support of Raising the Floor.
The new Web Access Plug-In adds speech capabilities to WebView by adding a local JavaScript server that allows WebView to work with TalkBack the built in screenreader in Andriod. By using one simple piece of JavaScript code, the Web Access Plug-In can be loaded into any web view. WebView is a widget built into android. Android uses WebView to display HTML content.
According to Steve Jacobs the President of IDEAL Group, “We are very pleased to release the Web Access Plug-In as an open source donation to ‘Raising the Floor’".
According to Gregg Vanderheiden, “One of the goals of Raising the Floor is to fill gaps and ensure that people facing disability, literacy, and aging-related barriers have access to all technologies, including newer mobile technologies, along with everyone else.”
Jacobs went on to say, “We are hopeful that more browsers (including the standard Android Browser) will offer Greasemonkey-like capabilities in the near future. This would be a useful enhancement for all users, and it would make this approach to web accessibility more user-friendly.
"We are currently working with Trace Research and Development Center on Phase II of this Web access project. Phase II will explore the development of a TalkBack compatible web browser using this approach, that supports gestures for moving through the page content. This would provide similar access to the web for Android devices without a keyboard as well as remove the necessity for going into/out of browse mode.”
Android "Web Access Plug-In" Resources
About IDEAL Group Apps4Android:
Apps4Android, Inc. is dedicated to developing low/no-cost, high-quality, Android applications that enhance the quality-of-life, independence, quality of education, and employability of individuals with disabilities... and everyone else! Apps4Android is the largest developer of speech-enabled Android applications in the world with 750,000+ active users in 47 countries.
This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (Grant H133E080022 to the University of Wisconsin Trace R&D Center), and Raising the Floor. Thanks also to Google's Eyes-Free Team for creating an outstanding smartphone platform with great accessibility features. We would like to give special thanks to Charles Chen whose Fire Vox work was heavily referenced and copied by our developers in writing the JavaScript portion of Web Access. No endorsement of this work by the Department of Education, federal government or Google should be assumed.
