[LINK] And You Had it In The Bag...

[Deus Ex Machina]

http://weblog.ipcentral.info/archives/2006/09/and_you_had_it.html
" And You Had it In The Bag... 

The open source and free software movements' inability to capitalize on
Massachusetts, by lack of accessibility features in desktop office
suites that currently support the ODF format, is an example that these
groups still have a ways to go. 

Open source and free software groups knew accessibility would become an
issue in government sales. One asks why they did not leverage their mass
developer base, attract a market of third party accessibility developers
to port work onto non-Microsoft office suites or coordinate efforts
between different office suite makers to create the necessary features.
The open source and free software movements have nobody to blame but
themselves for this inability to respond to and interact in the market.
Luckily, there are still companies out there that do.

Massachusetts had scheduled a move to using ODF for all its documents by
January 2007. But disability campaigners have raised concerns that
office suites supporting the open format did not meet accessibility
criteria or work well with assistive technology for disabled people.

	...Massachusetts (CIO) Louis Gutierrez said that technology under
	development would eventually meet accessibility requirements and would
	allow the state to implement ODF without compromising current
	accessibility levels.

	But he added that open format office suites were .unlikely to be fully
	supported by assistive technology vendors. by the 1 January target date. 

	...Massachusetts now plans to use .translator software. . also under
	development . that will allow Microsoft.s Office suite to translate
	documents from Microsoft formats to ODF. This would allow the state
	government to tap into assistive technologies that work with
	Microsoft..."