• RT @ppatel Webaim is conducting a screen reader user survey o gather more definitive data on screen reader users: http://tinyurl.com/3rmwte # 2008/12/18
• News: Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.6 http://www.lioncourt.com/?p=250 # 2008/12/15
• Retweet: @cookiecrook BusinessWeek: Apple is greener than Greenpeace says. http://tinyurl.com/57v4fp # 2008/12/08
• Retweet: @vmwarefusion : Fusion 50% off today, one day only. Details: http://is.gd/9Gqi Coupon code "CyberMondayDeal" # 2008/12/01
• It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. We're thankful for Apple's commitment to accessibility in their products. # 2008/11/27

Apple announced this week that Mac OS X 10.6 is code named Snow Leopard, and will be shipping in about a year. Unlike the last several versions of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard ill focus on improving the operating system and fixing problems, instead of introducing tons of new features.

There’s very little information at this point, but there are a whole heap of rumors. The most intriguing discusses the possibility that APple may move the entire OS, (presumably meaning the user interface portions), to Cocoa. This could potentially mean even better access across the board for VoiceOver users. Apple’s keeping quiet on this point though, if the rumor is true.

In all, though, this is good news for VoiceOver users. If Apple is focusing primarily on improving the exist architecture, that can only mean better access in the end.

The most recent nightly builds of WebKit have repaired many longstanding access issues. The most notable of the current fixes is the exposure of some web form controls to access solutions, including VoiceOver.

When these changes make their way into the official WebKit release, and then into Safari and Mac OS X, we will be able to enjoy these fixes with VoiceOver. In the mean time, you can download the nightly builds of WebKit and use them without risk to the OS’s core installation of the HTML engine from WebKit.org. The nightly build will install an application in your "Applications" folder to allow you to run a dedicated test browser with the latest fixes to WebKit. Of course, as this is a nightly build, there will be bugs, stability, and other issues, so you will likely want to continue using Safari or whatever your browser of choice is, as your default.

Webkit, the HTML rendering engine that powers Safari and many other components of the Mac OS, has recently completed a number of key bug fixes and enhancements where regards accessibility. While these are very technical, we are providing some information and links below, as we believe these fixes will lead to dramatically improved accessibility in Safari and other applications under Mac OS X. As some links below show, Apple has developers contributing to the open source project themselves to address accessibility issues.

• Tabindex support for all elements [Bug | Trac]
• Basic Accessible Rich Internet Applications support [Bug | Trac]
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