[g-a-devel] Gnome AT configuration proposal

[Henrik Nilsen Omma <henrik ubuntu com>]

Hello,

We had a discussion at the Ubuntu summit about restructuring the 
accessibility configuration in gnome and this was also discussed in Boston.

There are several aspects to this. I see the main target areas as:

1. A general review of settings, with some possible restructuring to 
make things easier to find.
2. Designing a more general AT tool selection system that lets the user 
select the ATs that will be the current defaults, start on boot, etc. 
ATM this is hard-coded.
3. Improve the handling of the access themes, reducing the number but 
make the font options work better.
4. Create a wizard that guides the user through the available AT options.

I've written a specification that mainly covers point #1, but also 
creates space for #2 and #4. I think this is the most realistic goal for 
Gnome 2.18, leaving the config wizard to be debated in the community and 
started on in the spring (possibly as a summer of code project). I'm 
hoping someone else will jump in and sort out #3!

The spec: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Accessibility/Specs/CommonATConfig

It has been suggested before by myself an others that all the 
accessibility options in Gnome should be gathered in a single place so 
they will be easier to find (as OS X, Windows and KDE all do). The main 
objection to this has been that some items are not only related to 
accessibility, and that people might not think to look for it there. It 
can also be that that people do not consider that themselves in need of 
assistive technology.

These are valid objections but they clearly apply more to some settings 
(fonts, themes) than to others (screen readers, on-screen keyboards). A 
useful next step therefore, would be to chart the different settings and 
decide what category they fall into (mixed use or a11y-only). If we can 
agree on a classification for each settings item then it will be easier 
to decide how to group them.

To start us off I've gone through all the settings that seem a11y 
related and posted them here: 
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Accessibility/Projects/GnomeATconf

Please help fill in any that I've missed. Next we need to discuss which 
settings, if any, should be moved from their current location. My view 
after going through the settings is that all the mixed-use items can 
stay where they are but that the AT prefs dialog could benefit from some 
expansion. This should all be fairly uncontroversial with the wider 
gnome community.

I'm hoping we can arrive at a community consensus on this before 
starting on the implementation so we can keep it all upstream (even if 
that means leaving several items open for future work).

Henrik