Re: GNOME 2.2 Desktop Accessibility Guide

[Pat Costello <Patrick Costello Sun COM>]

On Feb 17 2003, Sasha said: 

> Great!
> 
> But now we have tow accessibility guides: one by Sharon Snider of IBM
> (this is the one posted on http://www.gnome.org/start/2.2/) 
>  and another one by Irene Ryan of SUN. The best solution would be if
> these could be merged, or if the authors agreed on joining their
> efforts. Otherwise, we will have to choose which of them to include on
> the web page and gnome-user-docs package, which almost inevitably leads
> to hurt feelings... 
> 

Frankly, Sasha, I do not see any reason why the accessibility guide that Irene 
has produced should be merged with the document that Sharon produced for several 
reasons: 

- Irene's document relates to the GNOME 2.2 desktop, not the 2.0 desktop.
- Irene's document covers both Linux and Solaris. 
- Irene's document is original work, produced by original research by Irene and 
engineers in Sun. 
- Irene's document is technically up-to-date. 
- Irene is working on her document to include new accessibility functionality 
and tools. She will issue regular updates. 
- Irene's work complies fully to the GDSG. 
- The only material in Sharon's document that we would see as being suitable for 
merging into Irene's document is material that was largely taken from Irene's 
original work in the first place. There was a string about this topic last 
November, see the following: 

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-doc-list/2002-November/msg00105.html

- That material is in any case now out-of-date in Sharon's manual.

Now, I'm not saying that no-one else cannot submit another book covering the 
same ground, but with a different slant. For example, there is already the 
Introduction to GNOME covering the same ground as the Overview chapter in the 
user guide. Sun is submitting the accessibility guide under the GFDL and others 
are  welcome to use the material, with due attribution of source, of course.

Pat