Re: [orca-list] Off topic discussions

[Helios <heliooos gmail com>]

Hi,
I agree that it is hard not to compare between Orca and other
software. For example:

My sister often uses ZoomText (at school), so she was little bit
disapointed with Orca (tried more versions) magnifying tool:
1) there is a problem with duplication of the cursor - when using the
big one, the original one remains, and there is also some shift - it
is difficult to hit the icon/button
2) the magnification is according to her coarse - the text or the
edges are blurred - similar to other tools (from Windows I can mention
SFZoomer or DesktopZoom). All these tools are working like putting
classic magnifying glass on the screen (or zooming raster image) while
ZoomText looks similar like zooming vector image (of course, not so
nice). She also said that moving on the zoomed desktop is choppy
(maybe some delay?) which also confuses her.
So now, she uses Orca only for the voice output.

I do not know if the magnify tool is not so important for Orca
development (or is it separate project?), but improving in this way
would be nice.

Helios

PS: maybe that some of these problems are related only to my system/HW

HP 550 Notebook, Intel Celeron, 1GB ram, 160GB HDD, Intel GMA X3100
graphics, Pclinuxos Gnome 2009 TR6

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:51:05 +0000
From: Michael Whapples <mwhapples aim com>
Subject: Re: [orca-list] Off topic discussions
To: orca-list gnome org
Message-ID: <49A9B1C9 8070500 aim com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hello,
I think most of what I would say has already been said. There is some
extra stuff I would personally add.

I feel also questions which are easily answered by a small amount of
research (eg. the answer is on the orca wiki, in the FAQ or in a few of
the first ten results of a google search), do these really need asking
here? I mean look in a few of the obvious places (orca wiki, FAQ, etc)
before asking questions here. If you find you are trawling through
documents and the answers their aren't clear enough then yes then ask
the question for further explaination.

Further comments I have are closely related to what others have already
said so I have put it inline below.
On 23/12/42 19:59, Willie Walker wrote:
> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">> If I
> ever write on this list to ask about adding a feature to Orca,
> > and I
> > know of that feature because I found it in JAWS, I'm sure going to
> > mention
> > JAWS in my message.  We don't need to avoid the W-word or the J-word to
> > avoid engaging in philosophical or technical battles that belong
> > elsewhere.
>
> I believe it's OK to mention Windows and JAWS.  I don't mind, as long
> as the request is not "do this because JAWS does it that way and
> that's what I'm used to.  period."  Those requests are not helpful,
Yes I think I agree with that. May be its I would word it differently,
if another screenreader has a certain feature which I like then I might
say that, eg. the request might be "X has feature Y which I really like.
Can orca be given feature Y because I find Y helps me do...". Following
this arguement I can see some reason for some of "because that is what I
am used to." as sometimes we may have to keep switching back and forth
between linux and windows computers and having a certain common feel can
make it easier to switch back and forth. eg. if a particular key
combination is used for an action then why be the exception (or at least
allow the user to choose to follow the common choice) eg. most GUI
applications dealing with files use control+o for open, but in the nano
editor (I know it isn't a GUI app) it uses control+o for output file
(control+r is for read file), it would save me from needing to keep
remembering things are different when I use nano if I could configure it
to use control+o for open. Although giving that example, its not
actually one that catches me out, more times I have been caught pressing
control+alt+d for the desktop in windows.

> IMO.  I also try to avoid the "us vs. them" mentality.  I'd rather
> spend my energy on getting low cost compelling solutions to the user
> than wasting time on some senseless religious battle.
Agreed, I have my views, I am sure others have their views. The
individual's view on this might influence the choice of distro they use,
but so does other factors. Simply put, I don't think there is one answer
for all cases here.
> So, when a feature request comes in, I want something like: "I'm
> trying to accomplish task X and wish there were some feature Y that
> let me do this.  As a comparison, a feature that JAWS provides for
> this is Z."  We can then explore more ideas about how you might
> accomplish task X and come up with ways to do so efficiently.  If it
> ends up being something similar to feature Z and we can figure out a
> way to do it in Orca, so be it.
>
> Note that a good task description is related to what you are trying to
> accomplish in your daily activities, such as editing a document,
> filling out a form on a web page, managing your music collection,
> etc.  Once it is better understood what you're trying to accomplish,
> we can work on features in Orca.
>
> Will
>
>
>
> </div>