Website Development by Blind People

[Rich Caloggero]

Well, I've just learned how to build apache with php and learned php (the
language) well enough to be able to develop with it. Now the problem, have
any of you blind web developers out there (and I'm sure there are more than
a few) managed to appease the sighted masses cries of "make it look good or
else". <smile> Ok, so I'm overstating a bit... But really, can anyone share
any pointers or experiences with me of how to do this? Does this mean simply
choosing the correct fonts and colors for various parts of the site? i have
a very basic layout that a sighted collegue designed for me, but then I
bring it to another sighted co-worker and he says it looks terrible. I guess
for one thing, they need to be very specific about what they don't like and
what they want, but this is difficult for nontechnical artist types. I don't
know, guess I'm just discouraged. I feel I have the technical knowledge of
how to build the site and make it do the right things, but that doesn't seem
to be enough. It feels to me like the old problem of, well you hire a blind
person to do a job, but he inevitably needs sighted assistance, so then your
hiring two people to do the job of one which begs the question of why did
you hire that blind person in the first place!

                    Mostly Letting off Steam,
                    Rich


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregory Nowak" <gnowak1 at uic.edu>
To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: 07 December, 2001 4:29 PM
Subject: Re: new linux user


Read below.
Greg


On Fri, Dec 07, 2001 at 10:02:00PM -0000, Georgina wrote:
> Hi
>
> Could you explain what you mean?
>
> "As far as I know, zipslack is still unfortunately at 7.1,"
>
> Is it?
I meant to say zipspeak, not zipslack. Sorry about that.
>
> "not expect a new user to know how to modify zipslack into zipspeak."
>
> You may be right but should we judge?  What is necessary to use a speaking
> version of ZipSlack 8?
A kernel with speakup, a speakup keymap, a differently configured
lynx.cfg, and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting about.

>
> Gena
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca
> [mailto:speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca]On Behalf Of Gregory Nowak
> Sent: 07 December 2001 15:42
> To: speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> Subject: Re: new linux user
>
>
> As far as I know, zipslack is still unfortuneately at 7.1,
> which means he wouldn't get the latest zipslack.
> Yes, I know he could get zipslack 8.0 and modify it, but I would
> not expect a new user to know how to modify zipslack into zipspeak.
> Greg
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 07, 2001 at 02:41:06PM -0000, Georgina wrote:
> > Hi
> >
> > I wondered if you'd like to consider looking at a Linux distribution
that
> > will install itself in a folder of your Windows disk.  The advantage is
> that
> > you don't have to bother with adding disks, or partitioning.  Its ideal
as
> a
> > beginning.  You'll need about 100Mb of disk space for the distribution.
> The
> > speaking version is called ZipSpeak which is a speaking version of
> ZipSlack.
> > You'll need one of the supported synthesisers.  You can read about the
> > ZipSlack at:
> >
> > www.slackware.com
> >
> > HTH
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca
> > [mailto:speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca]On Behalf Of Jason Symes
> > Sent: 07 December 2001 02:29
> > To: speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > Subject: new linux user
> >
> >
> > I'm considering purchasing a second hard drive to install some version
of
> > Linux on, while leaving my Win98SE as my main os. I've never installed a
> > second os on one system, and I've had vary little experience with other
> > os's from Windows. I heard about Speak Out from another list, and they
> > recommended that I contact this list to get some help.
> >
> > I would appreciate any recommendations that any of you can make.
> >
> > Jason Symes
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup