Re: Request for comment (accessibility team): release date for GNOME 3.0

[Steve Lee <steve fullmeasure co uk>]

2009/11/5 Willie Walker <William Walker sun com>:
> One way around this is to keep hammering away at educating mainstream
> developers and exposing them to a11y.  This is why I typically prefer giving
> a11y talks at mainstream venues versus a11y venues.  We had a great
> breakthrough with HFOSS (http://hfoss.org/) this year where we were able to
> capture the minds of some students who want to continue working in this
> space.

That was great. Lets see if there is a way of getting
project:possibility students involved. To date they have worked on new
projects, which is good for their motivation but bad for the projects
which are then left languishing. It would be good to explore ways for
some them do GNOME features that are needed and can be done within
either the SS12 weekend or the longer Semesta. They would need
mentoring as they are CS students on course that have no OSS or a11y
components and doing it extra curricular. To date it has also been a
feature of P:P to get mentors who are fairly new in industry.


> AEGIS funding in various forms (e.g., EU AEGIS and Canadian AEGIS) are
> providing funding for the AT-SPI/D-Bus, GNOME Shell magnification, and
> Caribou work (Ben Konrath's more focused replacement for GOK).

> Canonical is funding Luke Yelavich part time to work on SpeechDispatcher,
> and I'll help out with that as much as time allows.

This is excellent to hear. Also good the hear there is now a name - Caribou

> We created a small
> GOPA-sized grant for Joanie Diggs to work on WebKit a11y, but most of her
> work is really being done out of a strong passion for the space.  Joanie is
> truly amazing.

+1 - beyond amazing

> The danger of funding dollars, however, is that they run out.  Like a
> coin-operated ride in front of the grocery store, they are awesome while
> they last, but they come to end almost before you expect it.  With
> mainstream developers making a11y design choices over their entire
> development cycle, I think we can reach a more cost effective and
> self-perpetuating culture.

Absolutely, and even more so when part of a diverse community around
each project and also GNOME a11y. The question is how to nurture it?

> On a positive note, I believe the two main spots where we are seeing
> responsible accessible design emerging in the mainstream are GNOME and
> Mozilla.  We're not to the point where I'd declare victory, but I am seeing
> a cultural shift emerging and it is promising.

I agree with that, and have seen it grow in strength from the first
time Aaron invited me to the GNOME/Mozilla summits a couple of years
back. Even from my rather distant position.

Steve