Linux Solutions Show, February 1-3, 2005
AMAYA, a web page editor for everyone

.

Paris, January 24, 2005

INRIA debuts Amaya 9.0, the only open source software tool to simultaneously browse the Web and create or modify web pages, while obeying the international Web writing standards of the W3C.

A user-friendly Web page editor for all Internet users

Amaya is a Web browser/editor jointly developed by INRIA research scientists and the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)-the international organization that develops the Web standards. Since 1996, researchers have built the technological foundations of Amaya in such a way as to integrate advanced Web technology, in conformity with the international W3C recommendations and in a way adapted to future evolution of the Web. Amaya is free and open source. It was downloaded by next to 400,000 users worldwide and is referenced on some 30,000 web sites.

The goal of this new version of Amaya is to put this tool within reach of all Internet users, irrespective of their knowledge of Web technology. Amaya 9.0 now sports an entirely overhauled interface that is user-friendly, more intuitive than before and accessible to all Web users.
The new Amaya interface also makes it possible to aggregate contents of different nature (mathematical formulas, texts, tables and graphs, for example), without any knowledge of the underlying technology and without having to open several windows or software tools on the screen.

A Web editor for documents accessible to handicapped persons

Amaya developers wanted to meet the recommendations of the W3C "Web Accessibility Initiative" group that takes into account the needs and constraints of handicapped people in reading and editing Web pages.

On the one hand, all editing functions are accessible from the keyboard. This is indispensable for all the persons who cannot use a mouse or use adapted interfaces, such as joysticks or braille keyboards for example. On the other hand, Amaya incites all web page creators to supply the information required so that handicapped persons can read their pages. For example, an image embedded in a Web page must be accompanied by a descriptive text in order to be identified by visually impaired persons.

A genuine collaborative workspace on the Web

Due to its unique feature of allowing simultaneous Web page editing and browsing, Amaya makes it possible for authorized Web users to modify the pages of a site, to update or annotate information on the currently displayed Web page and to republish this page on the Web server immediately. This feature makes collaborative work easier by presenting the Web as a common workspace shared by a community of users. It is used on a daily basis by the dozens of international work groups of the W3C.

AMAYA puts different W3C Web standards together: XHTML and XML to edit structured Web pages and make them easier to use by other Web tools (search engines, databases) as well as readable on diverse platforms (not only PCs, but also PDAs, cell phones, etc.) MathML to edit mathematical formulas CSS to define and harmonize the graphical appearance of a set of documents via style sheets SVG to represent vector graphics Amaya is distributed free of charge for Linux, Windows and coming up soon Mac OS X. For more information: http://wam.inrialpes.fr/software/amaya/

To discover AMAYA version 9, head for the Linux Solutions Show, February 1 and 2, 2005. Members of the research team will be present at booth F14-G13 to present and showcase Amaya 9.0.

PDF Version of the Press release

Press Contacts:

Strateus for INRIA Laurence Hermant Tel.: +33 1 40 41 56 11

INRIA Marie Collin Tel.: +33 4 76 61 55 03

About INRIA

INRIA, the national institute for research in computer science and control, is dedicated to research in information and communication science and technology (ICST). Throughout its six research units located in nine major regions *, the Institute has a workforce of 3,200, 2,400 of whom are scientists from INRIA and its partner organizations. INRIA has an annual budget of 125 million euros, one quarter of which comes from its own research contracts and development products. The Institute plays a crucial role in five areas of research: communicating systems, cognitive systems, symbolic systems, numerical systems and biological systems.
INRIA develops many partnerships with industry and fosters technology transfer and company foundation in the field of ICST - some eighty companies have been founded. Startups are financed in particular by INRIA-Transfert, a subsidiary of INRIA that supports four startup funds, I-Source 1 and I-Source 2 (information and communication technology), C-Source for multimedia and T-Source for telecommunications.

INRIA's international collaborations result in the welcoming and recruitment of foreign students and extensive research scientist exchanges. The priority is given to geographical areas with a strong economic potential-the European research area, Asia and North America-while maintaining continuous relations with South America, Africa and the Middle East.

*Aquitaine, Bretagne, Lorraine and Franche Comté, Île-de-France, Nord Pas de Calais, Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur and Languedoc Roussillon, Rhône-Alpes.