Re: Fwd: The Excalibur System

[Ryan Oram <ryanoram trentu ca>]

On Tue, 11 May 2010 at 20:40:35 -0500, Bryen M. Yunashko <suserocks
bryen com> wrote:
>Frankly, coming right out and saying that accessibility sucks in Linux
>and that Linux needs to become accessible is a slap in the face to all
>the hard working contributors to a11y in the Linux community, and a
>misnomer.  We have seen a number of a11y users happily convert to Linux
>from another operating system.
>
>While we are not perfect yet, there are easily debatable reasons why
>accessibility isn't perfect in Windows or OSX.  And the turn-around time
>in responding to issues is much faster in open source than it is in
>Windows, in my opinion.  There are some things we do better and some
>things others do better.
>
>As for investments, we welcome more investments, most definitely.  But
>please don't assume that there isn't any investment currently.  There
>are investment initiatives happening all over the world.  Examples that
>immediately come to mind are AEGIS, a project funded by the European
>Union to address accessibility issues, HFOSS.org that provides
>internships for people wishing to develop apps that support
>accessibility, GNOME Foundation making a11y a major core value of its
>desktop environment, FSF's hiring just today of a director of a11y
>technology for GNU, and so on.
>
>There are ways we, the GNOME-A11y team can help, and we're more than
>happy to help.  Maybe there are some things you are unaware of, and
>maybe there are some things that legitimately aren't resolvable in the
>very immediate future.
>
>But coming right out and saying it sucks isn't a great way to get the
>community excited to rally behind your efforts, especially the many who
>have contributed voluntarily of their own free time, in addition to the
>many paid a11y developers we have in our community.
>
>I commend you and your university for your initiative and making a11y a
>forefront issue in ensuring accessibility for all.  But the commendation
>does go both ways.
>
>Now, let's get to work and see how we can work together to make this
>initiative happen for Trent!  ;-)
>
>Thank you,
>Bryen M Yunashko
>GNOME-A11y Outreach

I apologize if I caused any offense. The frameworks on Linux are
certainly at the level of OSX's. And in order to get any real
accessibility on Windows, you must license software that costs a
frighteningly large amount of money.

Honestly that is the reason behind this initiative. Students
registered with the DSO must go through weeks of paperwork in order to
get access to the software they need to do their studies, such as
Texthelp Read & Write. Not to mention many schools not even being able
to afford this software, leaving students who need it out in the cold.
In any case, this money is much spent on educating students and
providing services to assist them, rather than lining the pockets of
big companies.

When I look at accessibility on Linux today, I see a variety of useful
frameworks that just need to be put together. You guys have come a
long way and I commend you for it. The foundation is all there, it -
for the most part - just needs to be made a bit more user-friendly.

I look forward to working with you guys and helping build on top of
what you have already accomplished.

Thanks,
Ryan Oram