[laptop-accessibility] Starting the ball rolling

Thu Mar 29 16:11:43 EDT 2007

Greetings,

It has been a week since I started showing off the OLPC at CSUN, and a 
few days since creation of this alias (and inviting folks to attend). 
And we now have 9 folks on the alias, so perhaps we are large enough to 
start OLPC accessibility discussions.

Perhaps the best place to start is with introductions.

I'm Peter Korn, Accessibility Architect for Sun Microsystems.  I've been 
working in the field of accessibility for a bit over 15 years.  At Sun 
my job is to look at all aspects of accessibility of our products and 
technologies, with particular focus on developing infrastructures 
(technical and corporate/structural) to support accessibility, and 
outward in standards and policy forums (I'm a member of the U.S. Access 
Board's advisory committee on the update/rewrite of Section 508/255 
accessibility regulations).  Prior to Sun I held numerous positions at 
Berkeley Systems/Berkeley Access, helping write one of the first screen 
readers for Microsoft Windows (which we worked to make cross-platform, 
and even had a prototype running on SunOS).

My interest in OLPC accessibility is a natural extension of my interest 
in making as much technology accessible to as many people as possible. 
I have long believed in "built in" instead of "bolted on", and in having 
technology formally support accessibility from the start.  OLPC presents 
a wonderful opportunity to build accessibility into a technology that 
will hopefully reach many millions, if not billions, of people.  I have 
also long felt that the prices of specialized AT solutions are 
significant barriers to their use - all the more so because folks with 
disabilities tend to have lower incomes than the general population. 
Again, OLPC provides a venue to dramatically address affordability 
issues for accessibility in particular, as part of addressing technology 
affordability in general.  Finally, I'm a big believer in open source 
accessibility, and I think there is tremendous opportunity for 
cross-pollination between Sun's work in open source accessibility for 
the Sun/UNIX desktop, and open source solutions for OLPC.  But while 
there is a Sun connection, my involvement in OLPC is voluntary - 
separate from Sun (who isn't paying me to work on OLPC accessibility).

Who are you, and why are you interested in OLPC accessibility?

I would like to invite everyone to review the material on the OLPC 
Accessibility wiki at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Accessibility (if you 
haven't already done so) One area that could definitely use improvement 
is the skeletal Resources section at the end of the page (volunteer 
editors sought!).  Also, you might find my OLPC-related accessibility 
blog entry of yesterday thought-provoking (see 
http://blogs.sun.com/korn/date/20070328).

But enough reading assignments!

There is a lot to think about in making the OLPC accessible.  I'd like 
to suggest we start by sketching out the "thought space" (what are the 
aspects to think about/evaluate - things like the Sugar user interface, 
and hardware requirements for AT devices), and by taking aspects in turn 
and doing a deeper dive/dissection (e.g. a careful look at the physical 
hardware for things like tactile feedback for someone who can't see, 
options for wheelchair mounting [and specifically for the sorts of 
wheelchairs we might find in a poor country]).

Does this seem like a reasonable way to start?  This is our list, what 
do you folks think?

Also, to help focus our time, we should keep in mind the OLPC timetable, 
so we can have our feedback ready.

The hardware many of you saw was a BTest-2 system, one of about 2,500 
made last month (see http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Hardware_specification). 
   After this is the BTest-3 system to be made in May (upgrading to a 
faster processor and memory clock, along with more memory and other 
goodies).  Then BTest-4 in mid-summer, which is "the final chance to fix 
hardware and mechanical problems that were detected in the Beta Test 3 
build of the XO".  Jim, I haven't found date for final production, but 
I'm guessing that's in the fall of this year (can you point us to that 
schedule?).

With only a 2,500 systems, clearly not everyone who wants to play with a 
machine will be able to have their own.  I'll let Jim talk about the 
process for getting a machine and how one qualifies for that.  But 
nearly anyone can get access to the software and start playing with it. 
  Please see http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OS_images_for_emulation for 
information on getting an OS image to run on a UNIX, Mac, or Windows 
box.  This is a great way to start evaluating the user interface for 
accessibility.

For more information about OLPC software, please see 
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Software_projects and 
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar 
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines (and you will 
note that 
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines/Design_Fundamentals#Accessibility 
is rather empty at the moment)

And speaking of software, Jim, can you tell us anything about the 
software schedule?  From the main software page 
(http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Software) I see a schedule 
(http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Software_Schedules) that terminates two 
months ago, but I know from the Sugar mailing list that there is still 
active development there.

Oh, and finally, as Jim Gettys (who I trust will introduce himself) 
solicited our involvement, let me also ask Jim to talk about what he 
would like from our group.  Jim?

Regards,

Peter