Open Source Accessibility: a Hit or a Myth?
Chair: Mel Poluck
Panellist: Dave Nichols, Open Source Programme Manager, The Open Source Project, The ICTHub, National Computing Centre

Open source software is inaccessible: myth or reality? Dave Nichols will open up the debate following a short talk on the accessibility merits of open source.

Five Key Points:

- Much accessible Open Source software, such as the Orca screen reader or the Gnopernicus screen reader and magnifier, is free - but getting them to work is not free.

- Part of the Open Source ethos is to customise to personal needs, making it particularly appropriate for people with a disability

- Open Source is about providing the "best tools for the job"

- There are as many opinions on Open Source as there are people involved in it

- There is a myth that Open Source has to have its own operating system