Re: interesting experiment.

["Rich Caloggero" <rjc@MIT.EDU>]

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@acb.org>
To: <speakup@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@braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Speakup mailing list
> >Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>
>