I invite you and all others who write about a11y stuff to register on the www.planet-a11y.net feed aggregator site.
Bryen On Sun, 2008-12-14 at 23:12 +0000, Anthony Sales wrote: > Hi Darragh, > > I am in the process of writing up detailed notes on how I have made Vibuntu > to go on the development blog ASAP. But I have spent quite a bit of time in > the last week or so having to justify why I feel that there is a need for > vibuntu, and whether it does offer anything new over other distros. I think > you are correct about the difference between accessibility and usability, but > one of my biggest bugbears is that when people claim something is accessible, > and what they really mean is someone who really knows what they are doing can > access it. If it requires a high level of technical competence to access it, > then in my books it is not accessible at all to the vast majority of people. > For me usability is a prerequisite of accessibility, if it is not usable then > it is not accessible. Now I may be wrong, but I have been looking very hard > for at least five years and I have not found a single distro that offers what > Vibuntu offers at present. I am not claiming that Vibuntu is perfect, in fact > there are a lot of flaws which I still need to try and iron out before I will > really be comfortable with people trying it. I have also made it very clear > in my blog and other posts that it is not really aimed at the existing Linux > community per se, although many existing users seem to like it. I work in the > British education sector, and my main motivation for creating Vibuntu is to > try and get British Schools and institutions to try and use Linux, with both > sighted and VI users. If I can offer them a simple free alternative to > Microsoft and Jaws etc then I am going to try to get this to happen, even if > I have to blow my own trumpet or talk like a second-hand car salesman! I am > not at all egotistical,as anyone who knows me will tell you, and I would > absolutely be over the moon if someone else produced an accessible Linux for > beginners, because I would much rather be sitting on my fat arse eating a > kebab and watching the telly than spending hours trying to solve other > peoples problems, as I am not blind or partially sighted myself. I see > Vibuntu primarily as a charitable project for the benefit of the wider VI > community and I am very surprised at the amount of criticism I have received > for trying to do this! Finally as I stated in my blog, I realise that 99% of > the credit for Vibuntu lies with Gnome, Orca, Compiz and Ubuntu etc. I have > just made a few small but significant changes by standing on the shoulders of > giants! My goal is an accessible Linux distro that even a beginner can use > and if I have to upset a few people along the way then so be it. > > Have a good xmas, > > drbongo > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Darragh [mailto:li...@digitaldarragh.com] > Sent: Sun 14/12/2008 22:42 > To: Anthony Sales; ubuntu-accessibil...@lists.ubuntu.com; > gnome-accessibility-list@gnome.org; orca-l...@gnome.org > Cc: Matthew Horspool (Learner); Mobeen Iqbal (Learner); Arthur Turner > (Learner) > Subject: RE: Vibuntu Development Blog > > Anthony, > > Firstly, again well done. > > I'd personally like to see some posts on your development blog related to how > you got so many administrative apps working with Orca as I see this as the > most significant reason to use your version. > > I also have to echo the points raised by a few here, You really do need to be > very careful in your wording. Your version of Ubuntu is really not the most > accessible distribution out there. There is a major difference to accessible > and usable. To say something is inaccessible means it cannot be made to work > no matter what configuration is used. Usable on the other hand means it is > available to the user with a minimum of knowledge and tweeking. This is not > of course to belittle the work you hav done. I just really hate to see the > work of so many diminished in stature due to some bad wording in a press > release. Let's be honest. If it wasn't for the work of people in the > Speakup, BRLTTY, EmacsSpeak, SBL, Yasr, and other projects, none of us would > have had the opportunities in Linux we have today. > > Keep up the good work. > > > > Darragh > > -----Original Message----- > From: gnome-accessibility-list-boun...@gnome.org > [mailto:gnome-accessibility-list-boun...@gnome.org] On Behalf Of Anthony > Sales > Sent: 14 December 2008 20:16 > To: ubuntu-accessibil...@lists.ubuntu.com; > gnome-accessibility-list@gnome.org; orca-l...@gnome.org > Cc: Matthew Horspool (Learner); Mobeen Iqbal (Learner); Arthur Turner > (Learner) > Subject: Vibuntu Development Blog > > > I have set up a Vibuntu Development Blog at http://www.vibuntu.blogspot.com/ > for anyone who is interested! I will use this to document the development of > Vibuntu and any relevant issues so that anyone who wants to create their own > accessible remix of Ubuntu, or just modify their existing installation can do > so easily. There is an RSS feed available if anyone wants to be automatically > notified of new posts. I will still post any significant announcements such > as the release of new versions and/or notable improvements on the mailing > lists and forums, as well as continuing to asking for help, advice and > suggestions and providing them when I can. I am planning to have a well > deserved rest over the xmas break so it is unlikely there will be any major > developments until the new year! > > Thanks again for everyone's support, advice, suggestions and criticisms! > > drbongo > Confidentiality: This e-mail and its attachments are intended for the above > named only and may be confidential. If they have come to you in error you > must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone: > please reply to this e-mail and highlight the error to the sender. > > Security Warning: Please note that e-mail has been created in the knowledge > that the Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We advise > that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us. > > Viruses: Although we have taken steps to ensure that this e-mail and > attachments are free from any virus, we advised that in keeping with good > computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. > _______________________________________________ > gnome-accessibility-list mailing list > gnome-accessibility-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-accessibility-list > > > Confidentiality: This e-mail and its attachments are intended for the above > named only and may be confidential. If they have come to you in error you > must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone: > please reply to this e-mail and highlight the error to the sender. > > Security Warning: Please note that e-mail has been created in the knowledge > that the Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We advise > that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us. > > Viruses: Although we have taken steps to ensure that this e-mail and > attachments are free from any virus, we advised that in keeping with good > computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. > > Confidentiality: This e-mail and its attachments are intended for the above > named only and may be confidential. If they have come to you in error you > must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone: > please reply to this e-mail and highlight the error to the sender. > > Security Warning: Please note that e-mail has been created in the knowledge > that the Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We advise > that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us. > > Viruses: Although we have taken steps to ensure that this e-mail and > attachments are free from any virus, we advised that in keeping with good > computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. > _______________________________________________ > gnome-accessibility-list mailing list > gnome-accessibility-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-accessibility-list -- Bryen Yunashko openSUSE Board Member _______________________________________________ gnome-accessibility-list mailing list gnome-accessibility-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-accessibility-list
