RE: GNU Accessibility Statement Online

  • From: "Ken Perry" <whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:38:15 -0400

 

 

I think you need to tie four things together when dealing with
accessibility.  You have two of them and that is free and Accessible.  You
are missing two others.  It doesn't have to be free if its affordable take
the nice speech voices that they sell for 5 bucks that's not ridiculous so
if it can't be free make it affordable. Second but most important.  This is
the great equalizer not accessibility and not free.  But the word Usable or
usability  must be included.  Did you know my email on my IPhone is free
with my phone its accessible but the problem is its almost unusable without
getting someone to set up my account.  I can also access my work mail  on
the web exchange site since they don't support POP3 or Imap but no matter if
I am using Orca and Espeak free or Jaws 11 its not Usable.  It takes me 10
to 20 minutes to reply and spell check and attach a few things to an email
where it takes my sited counter parts seconds.  So I guess any accessibility
statement that does not also say both accessibility and usability is part of
the standard I don't see it as much of a statement.   Words do matter. 

 

Ken

From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris Hofstader
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 1:51 PM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: GNU Accessibility Statement Online

 

Hey Storm,

 

I'm making a list of ideas like the one you present below that we can
consider for future revisions of the statement. Sina also suggested while we
were on the phone that a paragraph be added regarding net neutrality which
is really important to people with disabilities.

 

The entire GNU team has, over the past couple of months, caught the
accessibility bug. Stallman himself feels that discussing freedom without
including a specific disenfranchised population isn't true freedom after
all.

 

As GNU is really new to the accessibility space, we'll have some hiccups for
a while. I include my own bias for blind/low vision technologies and
relative ignorance of most other AT in the GNU/Linux world.

 

cdh

  

On Mar 27, 2010, at 1:05 PM, Storm Dragon wrote:





Hi,
Ok, you got me there, it is right out in the open. The thing is, it kind of
seems like one of those things that congress likes to do when getting a
really good bill passed. They tack things on to the end of it that are what
they want to get done, and they get passed just because the rest of it is
great.
"Also, the statement does not condemn server based applications but, rather,
encourages people not to make or use them." What is the difference? May as
well condemn them, that would meet the same goal.
As for the privacy issues, that is a very good point. Why not add something
about that instead of just letting the statement hang in the air right at
the end of the rest of it. It would make it fit better perhaps.
Thanks
Storm



 


 

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On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 12:30 -0400, Chris Hofstader wrote:



It isn't a "hidden agenda" as it is written in very plain English for all to
see. It is, however, a position fundamental to FSF and as it is an FSF
statement, also not hidden anywhere, it fits into GAS. 

 

You can take the statement and remove that line and other things you may not
agree with and repost it as your own statement based on the GNU statement. 

 

Also, the statement does not condemn server based applications but, rather,
encourages people not to make or use them.  

 

cdh 

 

 

 

On Mar 27, 2010, at 11:11 AM, Storm Dragon wrote: 

 

Hi,
You know, I kind of wondered about that one myself lol. So, that explains
it. It sucks that hidden agendas have to sneak in everywhere, even in to a
goal as pure and right as accessibility.
Storm


 

-- 
Follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/stormdragon2976
My blog, Thoughts of a Dragon:
http://www.stormdragon.us/
What color dragon are you?
http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/new/alustriel07/what-color-dragon-would-you-be/
Install Windows Vista in under 2 minutes:
http://is.gd/am6TD





On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 11:03 -0400, Sina Bahram wrote: 

The following statement really got to me:
 
"and please don't invite users to do something on a server that they could
conceivably do on their own computers."
 
I understand that Stallmann is one of the leading activists against cloud
computing, but why on earth are you allowing such an
agenda to creap into a statement on accessibility?
 
In my opinion, this one statement completely undermines the rest of the
things you're trying to do.
 
Take care,
Sina
 
-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris Hofstader
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:00 AM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: GNU Accessibility Statement Online
 
Hi,
 
For a couple of months, Richard Stallman and I have been working on the GNU
Accessibility Statement (GAS)  which takes a no nonsense
approach to endorsing the rights of people with disabilities as regard
software within the context of free software. I've never read
a more strongly worded statement from any organization regarding software
and people with disabilities.
 
GAS also takes a strong stance on free software values but does not endorse
any specific license, although we would like people to
use GPL.
 
You can read the statement at: 
 
http://www.gnu.org/accessibility/accessibility.html
and send comments to me that we can consider for future revisions of the
statement.
 
Thanks,
cdh
 
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