Oracle JDeveloper Accessibility Information

2 Oracle JDeveloper Accessibility Information

Oracle JDeveloper provides a wide range of features that are designed to support accessibility. Our goal is to make Oracle Products, Services, and supporting documentation accessible to the disabled community.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Using a Screen Reader and Java Access Bridge with Oracle JDeveloper

Install Java Access Bridge on Windows computers to work with assisting technologies.

For assisting technologies, like screen readers, to work with Java-based applications and applets, the Windows-based computer must also have Java Access Bridge installed. Refer to Using a Screen Reader and Java Access Bridge with Oracle JDeveloper in Installing Oracle JDeveloper for the screen reader setup procedure, and for the recommended minimum technology stack.

Oracle JDeveloper Features that Support Accessibility

The Oracle Accessibility Program web page provides information on how to configure and use the accessibility features of Oracle JDeveloper.

Oracle JDeveloper supports accessibility features. For additional accessibility information about Oracle products, including information on how to configure and use them, see the Oracle Accessibility Program page at:

http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/

Oracle's goal is to ensure that disabled end-users of our products can perform the same tasks, and access the same functionality as other users. Oracle JDeveloper provides a number of features that are designed to support accessibility goals.

Keyboard Access

Oracle JDeveloper features support keyboard access to several menu and toolbar functionality so that users may navigate between windows and work with them, or invoke resources.

Oracle JDeveloper features support keyboard access to Jdeveloper functionality; a summary is provided below. The mnemonic keys used to open menus and choose commands are included in all procedural topics. Please refer to the keyboard navigation topics for a summary of how keys are assigned within Jdeveloper and the lists of accelerator keys provided for commands.

The following menu and toolbar functionality is provided through keyboard access:

Users can navigate to and invoke all menu items.
All toolbar functions are accessible through menu items.
All menus and menu items have unique and functioning mnemonic keys.
All context menus within the windows and source editor can be invoked.
Frequently used menu items have unique accelerator keys.

The following functionality is available in Jdeveloper IDE windows, which include the Applications window, Structure window, source editor, Properties window, Constraints, Profilers, Debugger windows, Help windows, Log windows and BC4J Tester. Users can:

Navigate between all open windows, to all nodes within a window or pane, and between tabs in a window.
Set focus in a window or pane.
Invoke all controls within a window or pane, and perform basic operations.
Navigate and update properties in the Properties window.
Use Code Insight and Code Templates in the source editor.
Invoke context sensitive help topics, navigate to and open all help topics, and navigate between the navigation and viewer tabs.
Open, close, dock, undock, minimize, restore and maximize the applicable Jdeveloper window.

Tips:

You can press Escape to move the focus from the current dockable window to the last active editor. Press Shift+Escape to move the focus and also close the current window.
You can press Shift+F10 to open the context menu for any window. Use the Down Arrow and Up arrow keys to select a command and press Enter, or use the accelerators to invoke a command on the context menu.

The following functionality is available in Oracle JDeveloper dialogs and wizards:

Users can navigate to and invoke all controls within all wizards and dialogs.
The order in which the Tab key causes focus to flow is consistent and logical.
Mnemonic keys are provided for controls where appropriate.

Navigation and controls are available with runtime applications, which include all runnable files that are produced with Oracle JDeveloper, including Java applications, HTML applications, applets, JSF (Faces) applications, JSPs, and Servlets. With runtime applications, users can:

Navigate to all controls within all runtime applications.
Invoke all controls within all runtime applications.

Screen Reader Readability

Screen readers in JDeveloper ensure that menus and menu items, toolbar items, hint text, open windows and components, status text, controls within wizards, dialogs, and runtime applications are read.

Here is a summary of screen readability in Jdeveloper, when it is used with a screen reader.

When used with menus and toolbars:

All menus and menu items are read.
All toolbar items, including the window toolbar items, are read.
The hint text on all toolbar items is read.

When used with Jdeveloper IDE windows:

All open windows are read.
All components within each window, including tabs, are read.
Status text at the bottom of the IDE, and within the source editor, is read.

When used with dialogs and wizards:

All controls within all wizards and dialogs are read.
Hint text is read.

When used with runtime applications:

All controls within all runtime applications are read.

Flexibility in Font and Color Choices

For users who are visually challenged, Oracle JDeveloper offers options in font color, font size, and background color on user interfaces.

The user interface in Jdeveloper improves usability for people who are visually impaired by offering flexibility in color and font choices. The following font and color features are included:

Users can specify both the font and the size in which the font displays for editors.
All features of the product have black text on a white or gray background.
Colored text, underlining or images are never used as the only method of conveying information.

No Audio-only Feedback

JDeveloper ensures that when you work in the IDE audio feedback is supplemented with visual indicators.

In Jdeveloper, there is no situation in which the only feedback a user receives is audible feedback. All audible feedback is accompanied by a visual indicator. For example, a prompt accompanies the bell sound that occurs when an error or illegal action has taken place.

No Dependency on Blinking Cursor and Animation

By limiting its dependence on the use of a blinking cursor and animation, JDeveloper ensures greater feature accessibility.

Jdeveloper makes minimal use of a blinking cursor and animation. No features in Jdeveloper use blinking indicators, with the exception of the cursor in the source editor. No features rely on animated sequences.

Screen Magnifier Usability

The Jdeveloper user interface works well with screen magnifiers. All features of the product can be magnified by a screen magnifier.

How to Change the Editor or Tabbed View of a File

In JDeveloper, use accelerators to change the Editor view or Tabbed view of a file.

When you press Enter on a node in the Applications window, you open the default editor for that file. To switch to the different editors and views available for a document; for example, to display a JSP file in source view or history view instead of design view, you can use the Alt+Page Up and Alt+Page Down accelerators to invoke the Window > Go to > Right Editor and Window > Go to > Left Editor menu commands, respectively.

How to Read Text in a Multi-line Edit Field

By selecting text and moving the mouse cursor up or down, you can get a screen-reader to read the text in a multi-line edit field.

To have the text in a multi-line edit field read by a screen reader, you can select text by holding down the Shift key while moving the cursor either up or down with the Arrow keys, depending on the initial cursor position.

How to Read the Line Number in the Source Editor

To have the line number read by a screen reader while you are editing a file in the source editor, you can press Ctrl+G.

How to Access Exception Stack HTML Links and Generated Javadoc Links in the Log Window

Save the contents of the Log window as an HTML file, and add it to a project or application as a resource so that JDeveloper displays links correctly.

After generating exception stack HTML links or Javadoc links in the Log window, they will not be recognized as links, but read as plain text by a screen reader. To access the links, set the cursor focus to the Log window. Right-click or press Shift+F1 and select Save As from the context menu. Save the contents of the Log window as an HTML file. Add the saved HTML file to a project or application as a resource. Open the file from the Applications window in order to invoke the Oracle JDeveloper HTML/JSP visual editor, which will display the links correctly. Navigate the file and access the links from the HTML/JSP visual editor.

Recommendations for Customizing Oracle JDeveloper

JDeveloper offers features to customize keyboard usage, display attributes of the IDE, and timing.

Jdeveloper provides a number of customization features that enable users to specify their requirements for keyboard usage, display attributes of the IDE, and timing where appropriate. All customization features are organized within the Preferences dialog. For maximum usability and to accommodate your needs, you should consider changing any of the following from the defaults to a more usable customized setting.

How to Customize the Accelerators Keys

You can add and change the default accelerator keys for Oracle JDeveloper in the Tools > Preferences > Shortcut Keys page. You can also load preset keymaps that you are accustomed to using.

How to Pass a Conflicting Accelerator Key to Oracle JDeveloper

In addition to changing the mapped accelerator keys, you can pass a conflicting accelerator key to JAWS by preceding the accelerator key combination with Insert+F3.

How to Change the Look and Feel of the IDE

You can change the default look and feel for Oracle JDeveloper in the Tools > Preferences > Environment page. The look and feel determines the display colors and shapes of objects like menus and buttons.

How to Customize the Fonts in Editors

You can change the font and font size that display in editors in the Tools > Preferences > Code Editor > Fonts page.

How to Customize Syntax Highlighting

You can change the font style, as well as the foreground and background colors used in syntax highlighting within the source editor in the Tools > Preferences > Code Editor > Syntax Colors page.

How to Display Line Numbers in Editors

You can display or hide line numbers in the source editor in the Tools > Preferences > Code Editor > Line Gutter page.

How to Change the Timing for Code Insight

You can specify the number of seconds that Code Insight is delayed, or disable Code Insight in the Tools > Preferences > Code Editor > Code Insight page.

How to Specify the Columns in the Debugger

You can choose the columns and types of information that display in the Debugger in the Tools > Preferences > Debugger pages.

Highly Visual Features of Oracle JDeveloper

JDeveloper supports some very visual features. Visually challenged users can access the UI, the visual editors, and the Components window using the equivalent functionality in JDeveloper.

Oracle JDeveloper includes features that are highly visual, and these features have equivalent functionality that is available to people who are blind or visually impaired:

The UI and visual editors. The source editor provides equivalent functionality, as pages and UI elements can be completely designed and coded in the source editor.
The Components window. The source editor provides equivalent functionality, as elements and tags that can be selected from the Components window can also be entered in the source editor.

You can add a component from the Components window to the UI or visual editor using keystrokes.

Oracle JDeveloper also includes modeling features. It is possible to create, edit and move elements on a diagram using only keystrokes.