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

[Willie Walker <William Walker Sun COM>]

Hi Francesco:

> - Is there any contact between the GNOME A11y Team and the GNOME Shell 
> developers?

Yes.

> - Do the GNOME Shell developers know what properties have to be present 
> in the GNOME Shell to make it support a11y? As apparently, the GNOME 
> Shell is still a moving target, the sooner the GNOME Shell developers 
> know what to take care of, the better it will be for everybody; not only 
> for the disabled people requiring assistive tools, but probably also for 
> the GNOME Shell itself to have the best chances to become a widely used 
> desktop. (Is a11y not a requirement under specific circumstances to be 
> even accepted as a candidate for a computer system!?)

We've pointed out that keyboard traversal, communication with the 
AT-SPI, and theming are important.  These are core fundamental things 
that the current solution does not provide.

Note that the GNOME Shell team is churning away and developing rapidly. 
We need them to succeed and provide something sexy for GNOME 3.0.  The 
churn, IMO, is the result of them needing to experiment with various 
solutions.  One important thing is the decision about which graphical 
toolkit they end up using -- right now, they are using their own fork of 
NBTK.  This toolkit, which is inaccessible, is likely the thing that 
will end up needing the work.  Note, however, that it doesn't make sense 
to invest heavily in making it accessible if they are going to drop it 
for something else.

As I mention, I can resign myself to the fact that the message about 
a11y has been delivered and received.  The GNOME Shell team, which is 
composed of senior members of the GNOME community, has information 
needed to help them include a11y in their decision making.  For now, I'm 
OK with keeping out of their way, but will keep advocating they include 
a11y in their decision making processes.

So, on one side, I'm advocating strongly for a11y, and on another I am 
sensitive to the issues the GNOME Shell team is facing at the moment.

Will