Rich,
This is indeed encouraging. Thanks.
-- charlie.
At 12:32 PM 5/20/02 -0400, you wrote:
>Charlie Crawford, I aplaude your comments!
>I believe that gnome will address many of these issues. I think that gnome
>will be similar enough to windows that the transition will not be too
>painful. Analogy is one of our most useful skills as human beings, so let's
>take advantage of it. That said, I'm sure things will be buggy and perhaps
>not as straightforward as we'd like to imagine, but since the software is
>maluable, and the developers actually care about the blindness community,
>these conditions will not persist.
>
> Rich
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Charles Crawford" <ccrawford at acb.org>
>To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
>Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 8:44 AM
>Subject: Re: interesting experiment.
>
>
> > OK, now I need to speak from the view of the American council of
> > the blind with respect to this thread.
> >
> > We want to see alternatives to the dominant Ms-Windows operating
> > system and applications that are accessible and user friendly. We realize
> > there is a culture around Linux that we do not wish to displace or
> > otherwise change, yet the culture demands a level of personal involvement
> > and knowledge that is neither easy to obtain from the available resources
> > nor easy to learn once those resources are found. Hence, the
>participation
> > of the wider blindness community is not likely unless there are new ways
>of
> > learning and using Linux that maintain the accessibility and lack of
> > expense that are so attractive.
> >
> > It is not a matter of telling folks to read the manual when the
> > manual is prefaced upon an expectation of understanding that is greater
> > than the average person starting out. Neither is it helpful to assume
>that
> > everyone is going to be able to prioritize their time to dedicate to Linux
> > in the same way as others have.
> >
> > This is not a hobby. It is an operating system for use by those
> > who need the access and affordability of it. So let's admit that we need
> > to accommodate those interests and find a way to do it that is not
> > threatening to the current community of users.
> >
> > For the reasons above, ACBH is attempting to find the resources
>to
> > get the internal speech engine we need to put speakup inside the box with
> > internal quality speech. That will expand the user base because we won't
> > be hunting around for hardware that is slowly disappearing.
> >
> > Next we need to look at the usability issue. This does not mean
> > we try and change the nature of Linux and it's syntax, but we do need to
> > look at any avenues to either make it more easy for folks to learn the
> > context through tutorials for example or possible other ways.
> >
> > In the end, Linux is a robust product that need not be seen as
> > having only one road to access. So let's stop making assumptions about
>the
> > people who are only trying to use this cool operating system and start
> > making an environment that supports all who want to use it.
> >
> > -- Charlie Crawford.
> > At 04:34 PM 5/19/02 -0400, you wrote:
> > >I think that most people know how to search for things on the internet. I
> > > think you need to stop and think about the fact that not all people are
> > >good at finding things and that's why we ask for help. If I could find
>all
> > >of the answers to my problems, I wouldn't be asking.:p Before you start
> > >treating new people like their idiots, try to remember that we're all
> > >different, we all learn in different ways, and sometimes we miss stuff.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >On Sun, 19 May 2002, Janina Sajka wrote:
> > >
> > > > All right, Newbies, Listen Up!
> > > >
> > > > There's something called Google. It's your friend. You use it
> > > > with your favorite web browser. It's real easy and it's lynx
> > > > friendly. And, it finds the answers to almost all of the "where
> > > > do I find" questions I've seen on this list in the last 6 months,
> > > > and puts them on the first screen of results.
> > > >
> > > > Learn to use Google. Keep it open in a second console.
> > > >
> > > > The field where you type in your search string is the fourth
> > > > field on the main Google screen. The submit button is the next
> > > > field.
> > > >
> > > > This is not rocket science. It isn't even hard.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Speakup mailing list
> > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >Speakup mailing list
> > >Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Speakup mailing list
>Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
>http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
