Dear Eric Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. I've replied to your comments on the Ubuntu Brainstorm site: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/20263/
Here's the message I left: You raise a very interesting question about what will happen when, say using > the Web-4-All system, you plug your card in and the machine doesn't have the > accessibility software you need? What happens, as you said, when the system > doesn't have the appropriate speech recognition software you need to use the > system? > > I like your idea of having portable applications. I would be very > interested to see how this could all integrate and work. > > But I still believe there is value in implementing a Web-4-All type system. > The 3 reasons why I think this are: > > 1. Certain users just need to customize system settings: > > Aren't there certain users who simply need to customize the system settings > to make system more usable? For example: > > - Users with an visual impairment (low vision): > > Set system settings to increase font size and switch to high contrast mode. > > > - Users with an auditory impairment: > > Set system setting so that auditory notifications display visually. > > 2. Can customize/use bundled s/w as fall back: > > I believe one of the core ideas behind Web-4-All is to abstract out the > kind of accessibility settings you would like to set. So it's not just > passing settings for your preferred accessibility application but also > general settings. > > For example GNU/Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X all come bundled with certain > accessibility applications (screen magnifiers, screen readers, etc.). I know > the quality of bundled software may vary in comparison to applications > developed by 3rd party providers but hopefully if you pass generic settings > to the system the system will be able to transform to become usable. > > 3. Use Web-4-All to launch portable apps: > > Down the track could the Web-4-All system be used to pass settings or > launch portable apps? > Kind regards, Scott. On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 5:53 AM, Eric S. Johansson <e...@harvee.org> wrote: > Brian Cameron wrote: > > > This does seem like an interesting idea. To expand upon it, I think > > GNOME also needs a solution that works more generally. > > > > There has been talk of enhancing gnome-settings-daemon so that it is > > possible for users to hit particular keybindings or other sorts of > > gestures (e.g. mouse gestures) to launch AT programs. This would > > allow a user to launch the on-screen-keyboard, text-to-speech, or > > magnifier by completing the appropriate gesture (e.g. keypress or > > mouse gesture). > > > > I would think that using a specific smart card or USB stick is another > > form of "gesture" that would also be good for launching AT programs. > > However, wouldn't it be better to come up with a solution that would > > support all of these sorts of "gestures" in one place? > > > > Providing a solution that can recognize different sorts of gestures > > (perhaps configurable so users can define their own sorts of gestures - > > perhaps with other unique hardware based solutions - like pressing a > > button on their braille display) seems a way to go about implementing > > your idea and also supporting other mechanisms that could be used to > > launch AT programs as needed. > > as I added as a counter proposal > > """ > It is unrealistic to expect all machines a user uses to have accessibility > software. There may be multiple reasons for this ranging from > administrative > overhead to licensing issues to interference with normal operation. By > adopting > the perspective that the user interface moves with the user and not the > machine > opens up new possibilities for widely available accessibility. By > associating > the user interface software (speech recognition, text-to-speech, various > dog and > pony tricks, etc.), the impact on the general machine is lessened, and > administrative costs are lowered, licensing issues are reduced or > eliminated, > and the user has increased control over the software they need to function. > > This can be implemented today using virtual machine technology and > relatively > minimal bridge software making the accessibility software interface visible > on > the host and enabling interaction between the application and the > accessibility > software.""" > > The Web for all model doesn't address something I consider fundamental flaw > of > accessibility technology. I should be able to use any machine I have access > to. > I shouldn't have to wait for an administrator or buy new license just > because > I'm using a new machine whether it be for a lifetime or just a few minutes. > I > should be able to plug-in, click a few icons and start working. After all, > that's what keyboard and mouse allow tabs to do. Why put any further > barriers > disabled people? > > I believe the future of accessibility will start with putting accessibility > tools on a netbook and connecting that network to other systems on demand. > I > believe this because if you give me an accessibility interface, you control > how > I use the computer. If you give me an API, and a remote accessibility > toolkit, I > can control how I use any computer. > > Yes, I'm a wee bit cranky about this because I spent the past 15 years > watching > speech driven user interfaces get almost no support and I am seeing speech > recognition on Linux (NaturallySpeaking on wine) sit at the cusp of being > useful > by disabled people and getting no traction with the developer community. > > -- > Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list > ubuntu-accessibil...@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility >
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