View source for Software:Orca (assistive technology)

{{short description|Accessibility software}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Orca
| logo                   = Orca.svg
| released               = {{Start date and age|2006|09|03}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|single|P348|P577|P548=Q2804309}}}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date    = 
| programming language   = [[Python (programming language)|Python]]
| operating system       = [[Unix-like]]
| genre                  = [[Engineering:Screen reader|Screen reader]] [[Engineering:Accessibility|Accessibility]]
| license                = GNU LGPL (version 2.1)<ref>{{cite web | url = http://git.gnome.org/browse/orca/tree/COPYING | title = COPYING file from the Orca git source code repository | access-date = 15 July 2011 }}</ref>
| website                = {{URL|projects.gnome.org/orca/}}
}}
'''Orca''' is a [[Free and open-source software|free and open-source]], flexible, extensible [[Engineering:Screen reader|screen reader]] from the [[Software:GNOME|GNOME]] project for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Using various combinations of speech synthesis and braille, Orca helps provide access to applications and toolkits that support AT-SPI (e.g., the [[Software:GNOME|GNOME]] desktop, Mozilla [[Software:Firefox|Firefox]]/[[Software:Mozilla Thunderbird|Thunderbird]], [[Software:OpenOffice.org|OpenOffice.org]]/[[Software:LibreOffice|LibreOffice]] and [[Software:GTK|GTK]], [[Software:Qt|Qt]] and [[Java (programming language)|Java]] [[Swing (Java)|Swing]]/[[Software:Standard Widget Toolkit|SWT]] applications).

The name '''Orca''', which is another term for a [[Biology:Killer whale|killer whale]], is a nod to the long-standing tradition of naming screen readers after aquatic creatures, including the Assistive Technology product on Windows called [[Software:JAWS (screen reader)|JAWS]] (which stands for Job Access With Speech), the early DOS screen reader called Flipper,<ref>{{cite news|title=Assistive Computer Technology For MS-DOS Training Guide|page=33|url=http://www.htctu.net/archieves/archive%20pdf/act%20for%20ms-dos.pdf|access-date=16 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202656/http://www.htctu.net/archieves/archive%20pdf/act%20for%20ms-dos.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the UK vision impairment company [[Company:Dolphin Computer Access|Dolphin Computer Access]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Dolphin Computer Access website|url=http://www.yourdolphin.com/|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>

As of GNOME 2.16, Orca is the default screen reader of the GNOME platform, replacing [[Software:Gnopernicus|Gnopernicus]].<ref>{{cite news|title= GNOME 2.16 Release Notes|url=https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.16/|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> As a result, Orca follows the GNOME stable release cycles of approximately six-months.<ref>{{cite news|title=GNOME's Time-Based Release Schedule|url=https://wiki.gnome.org/ReleasePlanning/TimeBased|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> Orca is provided by default on a number of operating system distributions, including [[Software:Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Oracle Solaris 11 Desktop Accessibility Guide|url=http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E26502_01/html/E29026/ats-2.html|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> [[Software:Fedora (operating system)|Fedora]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Fedora 16 Accessibility Guide|url=http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Accessibility_Guide/ar01s04.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130816021446/http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Accessibility_Guide/ar01s04.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 16, 2013|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> [[Organization:OpenSUSE|openSUSE]]<ref>{{cite news|title=openSUSE 12.3|url=http://en.opensuse.org/Features|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> and [[Software:Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu]].<ref>{{cite news|title= Ubuntu Accessibility| url=https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Accessibility|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>

== History ==
The development of Orca was started by the Accessibility Program Office (APO) of [[Company:Sun Microsystems|Sun Microsystems]], Inc. (now [[Company:Oracle Corporation|Oracle]]) with contributions from many community members. The original idea and the first working prototype for Orca was started in May 2004 by Marc Mulcahy, a blind programmer who worked for Sun Microsystems. When Mulcahy left Sun Microsystems and ventured out to start his own company, the Accessibility Program Office took his work, continued with it and released the first official version on September 3, 2006.<ref>{{cite web|last=Burridge|first=Rich|title=My First Blind Email|url=https://blogs.oracle.com/richb/entry/my_first_blind_email|access-date=21 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216012926/https://blogs.oracle.com/richb/entry/my_first_blind_email|archive-date=16 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Walker|first=Willie| title=Announcing Orca v1.0.0 | url= https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2006-September/msg00008.html|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Changelog| url=https://git.gnome.org/browse/orca/tree/ChangeLog-pre-2.27.1|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> When Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010 they cut developer jobs of full-time developers working on GNOME accessibility components, including Orca main maintainer Willie Walker. Since then, Orca is run by volunteers, led by Joanmarie Diggs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Walker|first=Willie|title=Post about 2010 GNOME Accessibility Hackfest and Transfer of Leadership|url=http://blogs.gnome.org/wwalker/2010/03/30/gnome-accessibility-hackfest/|access-date=24 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Willis|first=Nathan|title=GNOME plans an accessibility push for 2012|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/473007/|access-date=24 February 2013|newspaper=Linux Weekly News|date=21 December 2011}}</ref> On September 7, 2011, [[Company:Igalia|Igalia]], a company specialized in Free Software, hired Joanmarie Diggs and is supporting her work in Orca.<ref>{{cite news|last=Piñeiro|first=Alejandro|title=New Igalia hiring: Joanmarie Diggs | url=http://blogs.igalia.com/apinheiro/2011/09/07/new-igalia-hiring-joanmarie-diggs/ | access-date=21 August 2013}}</ref>

== Features ==
Orca's profiles allow users to save and load multiple configurations and the users can quickly access to different profiles, making it far easier to access multilingual text and environments.

== Maintainer list ==
Orca development has been led by their maintainers with the help of its community. The maintainers so far are:<ref>{{cite web|title=Doap file log|url=https://git.gnome.org/browse/orca/log/orca.doap|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>

Current:
* Joanmarie Diggs

Previous:
* Alejandro Leiva
* Willie Walker
* Mike Pedersen
* Eitan Isaacson
* Mesar Hameed

Other developers who made great contributions to the project are Krishnakant Mane, Marc Mulcahy, Rich Burridge and Scott Haeger.<ref>{{cite web|title=AUTHORS file|url=https://git.gnome.org/browse/orca/tree/AUTHORS |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Software:Festival Speech Synthesis System|Festival Speech Synthesis System]]
* [[Speech-generating device]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131216012926/https://blogs.oracle.com/richb/entry/my_first_blind_email Orca's first programmer/inventor]

{{GNOME}}
{{Speech synthesis}}

[[Category:Linux software]]
[[Category:Screen magnifiers]]

{{Sourceattribution|Orca (assistive technology)}}