[laptop-accessibility] Advocacy for Elevated Disability Inclusion: Next Steps?
Jim Gettys
jg at laptop.org
Fri Nov 28 21:43:33 EST 2008
On Fri, 2008-11-28 at 20:11 -0600, David K Parker wrote:
> Well its refreshing to hear that their are such good people working to
> build accessibility features into the XO laptop. All I can say is
> thank god for open source software and open source programmers. I
> still find it hard to accept that designing accessibility features
> into the laptop from the outset met with opposition from the
> leadership. Especially basic, simple, tried and true software like
> AccessX. The motto truly should be "One Laptop per Child" and not "One
> Laptop per Child except those with disabilities". I may donate this
> year because of efforts by the good people here.
>
>
> I'm still a little upset, as I've been in computing all my adult life,
> in spite of having lost my hands as a child. AccessX has been
> available since the DOS days. Every version of Linux and Windows I've
> ever use had this feature available. It sure has made it easier for me
> to get ahead. I'm now a network administrator. I was pretty incensed
> when I learned that this project excluded any software that would
> allow kids to overcome simple keyboarding issues.
Yes, and the OLPC has it too. Why did you think the XO-1 did not?
It has nothing to do with at-spi, which is needed for screen readers and
needs toolkit internal support, and which (currently) has the size
issues....
- Jim
- Jim
>
>
> I still say some wording about accessibility needs to be added to this
> projects mission statement.
>
>
> Thanks,
> David
>
> On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 4:12 PM, Jim Gettys <jg at laptop.org> wrote:
> Boy, today isn't my day to remember everything at once.
>
> The other sugar issue some of the new widgets (in addition to
> the
> standard GTK+ ones that already have full at-spi supprt) may
> still be
> lacking at-spi support.
>
> Check with Marco or Tomeo on the Sugar list to see.
>
> Help gratefully accepted, if you are a programmer.
> - Jim
>
>
> On Fri, 2008-11-28 at 13:12 -0600, David K Parker wrote:
>
>
> > I thought that this was the forum for voicing our concerns
> to the
> > OLPC. Are they purposely insulating themselves from opinions
> on how to
> > improve their product? I was set to buy a couple of these
> laptops to
> > donate at Christmas, but can no longer bring myself to
> support an
> > organization that is so negligent towards supporting
> children with
> > disabilities. It's almost as if they went through pains to
> purposely
> > exclude simple features that would make their devices more
> accessible,
> > such as sticky keys and mouse keys. At the very least, they
> are
> > negligent for giving so little consideration to kids with
> > disabilities.
> >
> >
> > David
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 7:07 AM, Andrea Shettle
> <ashettle at patriot.net>
> > wrote:
> > Given the recent discussions on this list
> criticizing OLPC for
> > not
> > putting higher priority on the needs of children
> with
> > disabilities FROM
> > THE BEGINNING, I'd like to make a few comments and
> ask some
> > questions,
> > either for the list at wide or for any individual
> who is in
> > the
> > strongest position to answer:
> >
> > 1. If OLPC's excuse for not putting disability
> access at
> > higher
> > priority from an earlier stage is, "the customers
> haven't
> > asked for it
> > yet" then I think that is a weak excuse. Any time
> one
> > discusses
> > disability inclusion, one must be sensitive to the
> fact that
> > people
> > with disabilities are already so profoundly
> marginalized and
> > excluded
> > that they very rarely have chances to really make
> themselves
> > heard in
> > society EVEN IN societies like the US where we have
> laws that
> > help
> > empower us (like the Americans with Disabilities
> Act ... or
> > the
> > equivalent Disability Discrimination Act for people
> in the UK
> > etc).
> > The NEED can be there and can be very extreme and
> still simply
> > not be
> > heard at the highest levels because the people with
> decision
> > making
> > power don't even SEE or HEAR people with
> disabilities, must
> > less seek
> > out their input. And the people with disabilities
> are denied
> > the
> > opportunities they need to MAKE high-level personnel
> listen to
> > them.
> >
> > If we wait for the country governments buying the
> computers to
> > *ask*
> > for disability access before this becomes a
> priority, then
> > this is
> > putting disabled children in the very unfair
> position of
> > waiting for a
> > very long time before their needs are put on an
> equal footing
> > with
> > everyone else. I think OLPC should be taking more
> > responsibility for
> > considering the needs not only of those who can
> speak for
> > themselves in
> > an articulate and coordinated fashion (and thus be
> heard by
> > the
> > high-level decision makers in developing countries
> who
> > actually pay for
> > the XOs) but also the needs of those who are too
> isolated from
> > each
> > other to be able to put forth a unified, strong
> voice at this
> > time.
> >
> >
> > 2. Those of us who are making complaints like this
> one are
> > currently
> > preaching to the choir: we wouldn't be on this list
> if we
> > didn't
> > already support the idea of accessibility features
> for ALL
> > children
> > using the XO laptops. What we really need is for
> people with
> > key
> > decision making power within OLPC (I don't
> necessarily mean
> > Negroponte
> > himself, but people who at least are in a position
> to shape
> > and
> > implement the stated vision and mission of OLPC).
> >
> > Is there anyone meeting this description already in
> this
> > list? If not,
> > then all this complaining among ourselves about the
> low
> > priority OLPC
> > has put on disability access will accomplish
> little. Indeed,
> > the work
> > that some members are trying to do to figure out how
> to make
> > the XO
> > more accessible, design new software, etc., will
> itself
> > accomplish
> > little if the OLPC as a whole does not put high
> enough
> > priority on
> > actually USING the innovations created by our more
> skilled,
> > hard
> > working participants (not me, alas, because I barely
> even
> > *understand*
> > some of the more technical discussions on this
> list!).
> >
> >
> > All the above leads to this point:
> >
> > 3. Perhaps rather than simply complaining among
> ourselves, or
> > working
> > in isolation from the overarching OLPC project on
> > accessibility
> > concerns, we should discuss how we can work together
> to
> > ADVOCATE within
> > OLPC to put higher priority on accessibility
> concerns.
> >
> > If there is anyone on this list who has been in some
> way in
> > close
> > contact with decision-making personnel within OLPC,
> or who
> > simply have
> > more knowledge how things work from the inside, then
> your
> > input would
> > be greatly welcomed.
> >
> > If we on this list who share an interest in
> influencing OLPC's
> > disability inclusion policy can pull together and
> work out a
> > strategy,
> > then I would be happy to post a Call To Action at my
> blog
> > (http://wecando.wordpress.com) for whatever small
> help that
> > would
> > provide in bringing attention to the cause. (My
> blog is
> > targeted at
> > people with disabilities in developing countries and
> their
> > allies
> > around the world, including international
> development
> > professionals.)
> >
> > If there is enough interest in coordinating some
> kind of
> > advocacy
> > campaign targeted at OLPC, then we could consider
> creating a
> > spin-off
> > mailing list devoted to that purpose, in order to
> allow this
> > list to
> > retain its focus on the more technical aspects of
> > accessibility.
> >
> > Andrea Shettle, MSW
> > ashettle at patriot.net
> > wecando.wordpress.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > accessibility at lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > accessibility mailing list
> > accessibility at lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
>
> --
> Jim Gettys <jg at laptop.org>
> One Laptop Per Child
>
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>
--
Jim Gettys <jg at laptop.org>
One Laptop Per Child
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