Web-based System Manager Administration Guide

Chapter 6. Web-based System Manager Accessibility

Web-based System Manager provides keyboard accessibility features and implementation of the Self Voicing Kit (SVK). Both are these features are described in detail in the following sections.

Keyboard Accessibility

The goal of keyboard accessibility is for the user to be able to use the Web-based System Manager without having to use a mouse. The following keyboard accessibility features are available:

• Menu mnemonics: All menu choices can be selected from the keyboard by typing the letter indicated in the menu title. For example, for a menu with Properites as a choice, open the menu and type r to select the Properites option.
• Menu accelerators or shortcut keys: Key combinations are available for common actions. For example, Ctrl + Q to quit and F9 for Key Help.
• Dialog Accessibility Features: Mnemonics and accelerators are available for dialog buttons. For example, pressing the Enter key activates the OK button and pressing Esc activates the Cancel button.

Keys Help (F9) provides a description of all keyboard shortcuts and accelerator keys. Other types of shortcuts include, special keys for moving between console areas and expanding tree branches.

Text-to-Speech Support

The Self Voicing Kit (SVK) provides a link between the Java code and a speech synthesizer which translates the Web-based System Manager GUI to speech output. This section describes how the SVK supports speech output for Java applications, such as Web-based System Manager, without requiring modification of the base code.

The following fileset is required to run the SVK within Web-based System Manager: sysmgt.websm.accessibility. This fileset is available on the base AIX installation CD.

The SVK is available from the IBM AlphaWorks web site at:

http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com

Using Web-based System Manager with the Self-Voicing Kit

The SVK, based on a new Access Engine technology from IBM, is launched as an assistive technology by Sun's Java Accessibility utility class, EventQueueMonitor. The engine communicates with Web-based System Manager's accessible components and manages the information from Web-based System Manager so that user interface presentation extensions can quickly access the information through the SVK Toolkit class library. The SVK class library contains many utility functions, which include, but are not limited to, speaking text, reading application text, and activating accessible components.

Once installed, the SVK loads automatically into the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) with the Web-based System Manager. Optionally, an external keypad can be connected to the other serial port to provide navigation functionality for a blind user. If the keypad is not installed, there is a key sequence to put the user into review mode. In review mode, keystrokes are directed to SVK to provide functionality similar to the external keypad.

For more information on the Self Voicing Kit, refer to the IBM Self Voicing Kit User's Guide.