[sugar] Thinking about accessibility in Sugar & on the OLPC
Peter Korn
Peter.Korn at Sun.COM
Thu Mar 29 18:13:14 EDT 2007
Hi guys,
Thanks to Jim Gettys I've started looking at OLPC & Sugar accessibility
in what passes for spare time. We've just started a mailing list to
discuss it (accessibility at laptop.org), and I've updated the
Accessibility wiki page (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Accessibility and
also added a bit to start things off on the accessibility section of the
OLPC human interface guidelines
(http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines/Design_Fundamentals#Accessibility)
I would very much appreciate a conversation looking at these issues, and
on how (and when) we might address accessibility in Sugar and on the
OLPC. From my brief play with the OLPC via a stock BTest-2 system,
there is quite a lot of work to do to provide anything like a similar
level of accessibility support as we have in a GNOME 2.16 or later
desktop (including keyboard navigation support, theming for visual
disabilities, and of course assistive technologies). There is also a
lot of great potential for this device to open up some neat new options
for people with disabilities (sign language chat with the built in
camera; augmentative communication for folks who can't speak by having
the OLPC talk for them), and also for a rather radical cultural shift in
the many developing countries where people with disabilities are often
shunted into a horrible, marginal existence (I recommend the book "My
Path Leads to Tibet" about the story of a German blind woman's efforts
to teach Braille to children in Tibet - see
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1559706589/104-7759792-5139164?v=glance).
As I'm new to the OLPC & Sugar, I'd also appreciate your patience and
understanding (and your kind assistance) with my ignorance of what has
already been discussed in this area.
Thanks!
Peter Korn
Accessibility Architect,
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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