Re: [orca-list] Replacing Windows with Linux, accessibly?

[Rastislav Kish <rastislav kish protonmail com>]

Hello,

as for Gnome, it's accessibility is still a work in progress, and it has
been for a while.

Do you have any specific issues with Mate?


Personally, I wouldn't say Linux is less accessible than Windows. For
me, it seems more appropriate to say, that many things are done
differently on Linux than on Win.

And it's true, that for many users, this is a problem. Primarily for
three reasons:

* It introduces a learning curve they have to overcome

* The mostly complete absence of good and uptodate materials and guides
also doesn't help much

* And eventually, the community is not as straight-forward to reach.
While Windows users hang almost everywhere where blind people occur,
Linux users are less common and the best way to meet experts is to join
our lists i.e. additional work.


These factors combined cause, that people either don't try Linux at all,
or they do, but in a... highly non-ideal way.

And, as a common experience goes, blame Linux afterward for things they
often just did wrong themselves.


Just consider, how long Windows didn't even provide accessible
installation, and I didn't hear anyone say a word about it.

On linux, we have accessible installers for long, long time.

And I've just recently heard someone ranting about Ubuntu Mate's
installer being inaccessible, what turned out to be caused by their own
installation media btw.


So yeah, some people have hard times changing their habits and getting
used to new environment.


Of course, Linux has objectively problematic areas, that could be worked
on, documentation is one of them, as an example.


But then, which OS doesn't?


Every choice has its pros and cons. And one should determine based on
their needs, whichone fits them best.


Best regards


Rastislav


Dňa 12. 9. 2022 o 21:00 J.G via orca-list napísal(a):
> Hello,
>
> from my experiences,linux regardless of the distro is less accessible
> for average user as Windows. Yes, here are also GUIs like Gnome, Mate,
> KDE and others, but the verdict is the same. e.g. in Gnome, which is
> mey be most accessible GUI, there are many items unlabled (see
> settings panel) which are not accessible. When I tested it, I could
> not change timezone and set clock. and this is only one problem.
> then, here is a documentation, which should be studied very carefully,
> because Orca has very different concept than Windows screen readers.
> it would be helpful, if some document, which would guide blind user
> from Windows to Linux would have existed.
> ok, firefox, thunderbird and libreoffice work, but personally, I work
> on Windows platform more smoothly.
> My recommendation is, test distros first with different GUIs inside of
> VM and then decide what is the best for you.
>
> I hope, that my finding will be different after three yers (2025),
> when support for Windows 10 will be ended and many good hardware will
> be without of updates due to imcompatibility with Win11. So I and
> others would gladly recommend linux distros to average user or
> "computer analphabet".
>
> regards
> Jožef
>
> 2022-09-12 20:29 GMT+02.00, Milton via orca-list <orca-list gnome org>:
> > Hi Jessica,
> >
> > I install Ubuntu with the great help of Orca. I download the latest LTS
> > on releases.ubuntu.com and put this on a pendrive. I need sighted
> > assistance if in the BIOS secure boot or other settings had to be done
> > or to let a boot menu appear after starting the computer to choose for
> > the pendrive. After starting Orca with Super+Alt+S I can do the
> > installation by myself.
> >
> > Milton
> >
> > Op 02-09-2022 om 17:29 schreef Jessica Dail via orca-list:
> > > Hello, My name is Jessica.
> > > I have a computer that's not working very well with Windows 11, so plan to
> > > replace Windows with Linux, because that's one of the things I'll be
> > > learning this upcoming semester, which will begin my sophomore year in
> > > college.
> > > I'm studying computer science with a focus on IT.
> > > Does anyone know of an accessible way to replace Windows11 with Linux, in
> > > a way that's fully accessible?
> > > Thanks,
> > > Jessica
> > >
> > >
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > orca-list mailing list
> > > orca-list gnome org
> > > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > > Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> > > Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> > > GNOME Universal Access guide:
> > > https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> > _______________________________________________
> > orca-list mailing list
> > orca-list gnome org
> > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> > Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> > GNOME Universal Access guide:
> > https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> _______________________________________________
> orca-list mailing list
> orca-list gnome org
> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html