RE: Deaf people

[Josh Steiner <Josh BerkeleyNet com>]

> Oh, by the way Josh, I have not one but *TWO* deaf friends and it
> turns out
> that 30 million americans--a damn large chunk of the
> population--suffers
> from some degree of hearing loss.
> 
	[Josh Steiner]  Includeing me :)

> I don't think there was ANY disagreement AT ALL in here when we
> suggested
> that we provide usability for the disabled.  So maybe would should
> specify
> 
	[Josh Steiner]  It is very good that people have aknowledge how
important it is too keep our styleguides thoughtful of the disabled.

> that all apps that have critical sound effects also have visual
> alternatives, at least available?  I can't describe to you the anger
> my deaf
> friends have when they play a new game and there is no closed
> captioning.
> 
	[Josh Steiner]  Absolutely.

> I'm not saying trash sound.  I'm just saying that sound should either
> be
> fluff or it should be supplementable.
> 
	[Josh Steiner]  True, we need to make sure that there are always
multiple ways of expressing information.  You didn't really address my
concern though, which was that arbitrarily limiting the lengths sound
that a program can use _will_ disqualify a whole set of valid interface
options.  The gain for the loss just doesn't cover it.  This should not
be mandated, it should merely be a suggestion.

	- Josh (I guess I don't _need_ to sign since this irritating M$
product forcably inserts my name all over my reply... I need to remeber:
"M$ products are smarter than me.  I don't _need_ options, the computer
knows best"  :) ick. )
	 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Josh Steiner <Josh@BerkeleyNet.com>
> To: 'gnome-gui-list@gnome.org' <gnome-gui-list@gnome.org>
> Date: Friday, August 14, 1998 11:51 AM
> Subject: RE: PROPOSAL: UISG Notification Sample Length Standardization
> 
> 
> >I have to also agree with those who are saying the 2 seconds is too
> >restrictive.  What if my program was _based_ around vocalizing
> messages.
> >In fact the more I think about it, a restriction like this is
> >Baaaad(TM).  A close friend of mine is blind and naturally relies on
> >auditory warnings.  I feel this time limit is arbitrary and could
> easily
> >infringe upon valid designs, for instance if I personally made my
> >program blind-aware and wanted to include informative sound messages.
> I
> >also have been considering designing games that are 100% dependant on
> >audio, so this would entirely prevent these kind of valid
> applications
> >from ever receiving a GNOME compliancy.  This is no good.  I
> understand
> >your intentions, and I agree.  In most situations long winded movie
> >samples and what-not as alarms would be very, very irritating and
> >downright sleazy, but I feel that mandating this is too restrictive.
> >Maybe put in a word of warning that unless it is a necessary part of
> the
> >programs functionality, please restrict your sound sample length.
> >
> >Josh
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: John R Sheets [SMTP:dusk@smsi-roman.com]
> >> Sent: Friday, August 14, 1998 11:06 AM
> >> To: gnome-gui-list@gnome.org
> >> Subject: Re: PROPOSAL: UISG Notification Sample Length
> >> Standardization
> >>
> >> Bowie Poag wrote:
> >> >
> >> > The sound sampless which are provided by the application to use
> as
> >> its
> >> > DEFAULT SETTINGS, straight out of the box, cannot be longer than
> two
> >> > seconds. If you want to put a sample in there longer than two
> >> seconds,
> >> > fine -- Thats your choice. But the application itself will never
> use
> >> a >2
> >> > second sample for notification purposes, by default.
> >>
> >> I don't think 2 seconds is long enough.  I agree with the other
> >> people who said 5 seconds would be a better length.  I think it's
> >> a good thought, but we shouldn't bear down too hard on this one.
> >> It should be more of a friendly scolding than a fully-enforced
> >> requirement.
> >>
> >> The style guide should have a section for (or a concrete way of
> >> addressing) "Polite" styles, things that GNOME thinks are nice,
> >> and civilized, but that aren't important enough to enforce.
> >>
> >> Does anyone (other than Bowie) feel that 5 seconds is too long
> >> for a default sound sample length?
> >>
> >> Or perhaps sound events need to be separated into two categories:
> >> user events and system events, each with different sound
> >> lengths.  In this case, I would suggest 2 seconds for user events
> >> (mouse clicks, etc.), and 5 seconds for system events (mail
> >> notification, etc.).  However, I think a flat 5 seconds would be
> >> just as good (i.e. simpler, less to bicker & fret over).
> >>
> >> John
> >>
> >>
> >> --
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> >
> >
> >--
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> >
> >
> 
> 
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