Re: Fwd: accessebility suggestion for Ubuntu 6.06 LiveCD

[Bill Haneman <Bill Haneman Sun COM>]

On Mon, 2006-07-24 at 16:38, Chris Jones wrote:

> 
> It's very easy for an application developer to think that his or her
> application is the most important thing running on a users machine,
> though it is not a fair assumption to make.

My concern here is for GOK users who, without GOK, are unable to use the
system at all.  In that respect, for this class of GOK user GOK is
indeed arguably the most important thing running on that machine.

Of course it doesn't have to be called "GOK"; my point is that I am
concerned with the ability of severely disabled users to access the
computer effectively.  For such users, though their numbers may be
small, the computer is more than just a tool, it's a lifeline.  For some
users it can be nearly their only means of interacting with the world. 
For such users, an untrapped pointer grab, for instance, would be a
complete disaster.   Similarly, GOK's ability to present menu choices
and UI controls for direct interaction, as opposed to just a replacement
keyboard, can mean an order of magnitude reduction in necessary
"keystrokes".  For a scanning/switch user, that can mean the difference
between minutes and seconds in navigating a menu.

Configuration problems are a real concern, but if I have to choose
between functionality for severely disabled users and headaches for
installers, I choose the latter.  Preferably we will fix the latter as
well, but not at the expense of the disabled user's experience once the
configuration is successfully completed.  I've already said that we not
only want to fix this, but I have proposed a way forward.

If the Ubuntu/SOK teams want to improve the lives of those GOK users 
as well as the user classes (who are they?) that SOK originally targeted, 
then I will repeat what I said before, I would be glad to help both 
indirectly and directly, and would support replacing GOK with SOK in 
Gnome once SOK met the important feature gaps (and I expect that
I speak for the rest of the GOK team as well).  This requires a
cooperative attitude and a respect for not only the problem reports from
the SOK team, but also for the user capabilities and requirements which
GOK is targeting.  The University of Toronto Adaptive Technology Center
is one of the world leaders (if not *the* world leader) in adaptive
technologies for mobility impaired persons, so we are fortunate to have
the benefit of their extensive user testing and clinical experience in
understanding the problems to be solved.

Bill
> --
> Chris Jones
> 
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