AxsJAX: My Web 2.0 Application Is Feeling Accessible
March 28th, 2008 | Published in Google Open Source
Last November, we announced the release of the AxsJAX framework as an Open Source project hosted on Google Code. The convenience afforded by having HTTP access to the GoogleCode repository has meant that this project has neverneeded to make downloadable releases — as we build new enhancements, users automatically experience the benefits of what we create.
The AxsJAX project depends on a number of cutting-edge technologies — including the emerging browser support for W3C ARIA. Charles and I took advantage of the presence of over 4,000 attendees at the CSUN 2008 conference last week to expose as many end-users and developers as possible to the benefits of Web 2.0 technologies. Until now, these technologies have been mostly viewed as an obstacle to users with special needs; I therefore found it refreshing to turn things around and demonstrate positive benefits that emerge when the underlying web platform is used to solve accessibility challenges.
Those of you who ran into me or Charles at the conference probably noticed our AxsJAX shirts — thanks again to Google's Open Source Team for helping us spread the source! The last few months have seen the AxsJAX framework evolve rapidly, and in that process, the library has acquired significant functionality that drastically reduces the amount of code it takes to AxsJAX content-rich web applications. We would like to take this opportunity to open up the AxsJAX Challenge — we invite web developers to innovate on our work as you AxsJAX your favorite web applications. Let us know about the great work you've done and we will recognize your work with a cool t-shirt that sports the Google logo in Braille on it.