Category Archives: opensource

open source, open development, open innovation in software

Free and easy HTTPS certificates with CDN with Kloudsec

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Steve

HTTPS is a ‘must have’ for any web service, SPA or progressive web application and so it is naturally high on my list of things to get to grips with. As a first step for the Brian project I’m creating … Continue reading →

Posted in development, devops, opensource | Leave a comment

CKEditor Accessibility Checker for content authors

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Steve

Here’s a mini review after a quick play with a preview of the new CKEditor Accessibility Checker plugin for content creators. The plugin is provided by CKSource who lead the development of the open source CKEditor and provide additional commercial grade … Continue reading →

Posted in a11y, opensource, web | Tagged CMS, drupal | 2 Comments

On Converting a VM from VMWare to VIrtualBox

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Steve

In short, don’t! It’s way too much hassle. It’s so much easier to create a new identical VM in VirtualBox and set it to use the same virtual disk file (.vmdk). I  expect this applies when moving VMs in the … Continue reading →

Posted in opensource, Win8, Windows | Tagged | 14 Comments

User experiences for low digital literacy and cognitive disabilities with Firefox

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Steve

[Update 2014-02-15] I’ve just discovered Mozilla X-Tag that allows extension elements to be created much like XBL. It’s a library rather than native browser implementation (’till W3C Web Components land) and I’m not sure if it allows nesting and inheritance which I … Continue reading →

Posted in opensource | Tagged FirefoxOS, Low Digital Literacy | Leave a comment

Sending emails with PHP on cheap hosting

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Steve

Many cheap or free share hosting services block the PHP mail() function so it silently does nothing. For example, I just added a contact form to a small WordPress based web site for a friend but it didn’t work as … Continue reading →

Posted in development, opensource, PHP, web, WordPress | Leave a comment

What programming experience should a good programmer have?

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Steve

I was recently asked Which languages [and tools] do you consider a competent/experienced and useful programmer would have ability to programme in these days. Especially for personal computers, tablets and/or smart phones. That’s an interesting question and I gave it … Continue reading →

Posted in development, opensource, web a11y | Leave a comment

SS12 EU Student assistive technology competition a success at AAATE conference

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Steve

[Updated 23/09/2013 – added posters, code and photograph] The second SS12 EU assistive technology (AT) competition held as part of the  AAATE 2013 conference culminated in the announcement of the winning student team as part of the closing session. As with the previous SS12 EU during ICCHP, … Continue reading →

Posted in Assistve Technology, opensource, ss12eu | Leave a comment

HTML apps and the 50 year software engineering legecy

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Steve

I no longer call myself a ‘software engineer‘ but I do consider it to be a vital part of my career background. To my mind, engineering provides the rigour and discipline aspects of being a developer, the other parts being … Continue reading →

Posted in development, HTML, opensource, web | Leave a comment

Screencast of Maavis and Cloud4All integration

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Steve

I finally put up a short screencast of Maavis in use. This also demonstrates how integration with Cloud4All provides automatic personalisation of settings based on a token that identifies the user. Cloud4All is an EU project that is implementing part … Continue reading →

Posted in a11y, dementia, opena11y, opensource | Leave a comment

Developing programs designed for AT users

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Steve

It can be a challenging enough to develop programs (and apps) that provide a first class user experience for users of Assistive Technology (AT) such as screen readers. There are plenty of examples of programs ‘out there’ with varying degrees … Continue reading →

Posted in a11y, opena11y, opensource, web | Leave a comment