<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      type="topic"
      id="atk">
<info>
  <link type="guide" xref="index" group="atk"/>
  <desc>Support for screen readers and other accessibility
  tools</desc>
  <revision pkgversion="3.0" date="2011-04-05" status="candidate"/>
</info>

<title>ATK</title>

<p>Accessibility is the process of ensuring your application can be
used by people with various disabilities.  Disabilities come in many forms:
visual impairments, movement impairments, hearing impairments, cognitive
and language impairments, and seizure disorders.  Many people have some
sort of disability, and making your application accessibility will allow
more people to use your application effectively.</p>

<p>GNOME provides support for accessibility devices using the ATK
framework.  This framework defines a set of interfaces to which graphical
interface components adhere.  This allows, for instance, screen readers
to read the text of an interface and interact with its controls.  ATK
support is built into GTK+ and the rest of the GNOME platform, so any
application using GTK+ will have reasonable accessibility support for
free.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, you should be aware of accessibility issues when
when developing your applications.  Although GTK+ interfaces provide
reasonable accessibility by default, you can often improve how well
your program behaves with accessibility tools by providing additional
information to ATK.  If you develop custom widgets, you should ensure
that they expose their properties to ATK.  You should also avoid using
sound, graphics, or color as the sole means of conveying information
to the user.</p>

<p>The GNOME desktop ships with a number of accessibility tools
which enable users with disabilities to take full advantage of their
desktop and applications.  Applications that fully implement ATK will
be able to work with the accessibility tools.  GNOME's accessibility
tools include a screen reader, a screen magnifier, an on-screen
keyboard, and <app>Dasher</app>, an innovative
predictive text entry tool.</p>

<list style="compact">
  <item><p><link href="http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/guide/gad/index.html">GNOME Accessibility for Developers</link></p></item>
  <item><p><link href="http://library.gnome.org/devel/atk/stable/">ATK Reference</link></p></item>
</list>
</page>
