interesting experiment.

[Charles Crawford]

         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