By: Antony Savvas
Posted: 10:49 06 Dec 2007

IBM has contributed its Accessibility Tools Framework (ACTF) to the open
source Eclipse Foundation, to make it easier for developers to produce
systems that can be made available to disabled web users.
By using the framework, developers can create accessibility tools and
applications easily and cost effectively, as they no longer need to spend
time creating a tool or an application from scratch, said IBM.

IBM said the ACTF will swiftly integrate new technologies and accessibility
guidelines, to help developers quickly respond to the latest technology
trends and high-level technical requirements in the Web 2.0 era.

ACTF will allow developers to build and use various types of accessibility
tools, such as those for accessibility compliance validation, usability
visualisation, and alternative accessible interfaces for persons with
disabilities.

These tools will be integrated into a single, comprehensive accessibility
tooling environment as part of the Eclipse platform.
The Eclipse Foundation is an open source community focused on developing a
universal platform of frameworks and tools that make it easy and
cost-effective to build and deploy software.

http://www.eclipse.org/

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