Hello, Eric.
I'm sorry for my delay in replying.
I am sorry to hear about your sight loss. I barely have any
vision...just enough to use a screen magnifier when my face is an inch
or less away from the screen. I am learning to use Orca, and I want to
learn to use Speakup in the console as I do not know if my vision will
last, so I am halfway dependent on screen readers at this point.
I am also a recipient of VR services here in California, and I am
pursuing a career in the IT industry.
I would say that I have found Ubuntu 11.10 to be pretty accessible. I am
really excited about Ubuntu 12.04 as I am hoping for a lot of improved
accessibility features. I can say the same for GNOME, too. I fell in
love with that desktop when I first started using Ubuntu, and I am
really looking forward to seeing accessibility improvements in GNOME 3.
I'll wrap this up. I just did not want to leave your reply without a
response.
I hope that all is well, and (although I am no expert) if I can be of
any help with anything, please feel free to write me off-list.
On 12/08/2011 12:59 AM, Eric Oyen wrote:
thanks for the suggestion of some input.
I won't make this a testimonyl as there are still problems with gnome 3.
the older gnome 2.x works well with orca and that is still used in
vinuxproject.org. any attempt for me to use gnome 3 has resulted in
inconsistent results (with the end result that some of the screen elements are
invisible to me).
as of this writing, I am using vinux 3.01 (based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS) as that
is the most reliable (stable) version. making such radical changes to gnome
without considering that may break accessibility was a poor move on the part of
the gnome project devs. I know that there is a new project called unity
desktop (that is supposed to look a lot like the OS X cocoa interface), but it
is so new that it doesn't entirely work with orca (which I depend on totally as
I am totally blind).
anyway, all that being said, I still would prefer using either OS X (apple with
voiceover) or ORCA (in vinux) more than I would any version of windows (I still
use that on occasion with NVDA). unfortunately, I don't have the income
necessary to upgrade my hardware to some windows 7 compliance nor would I have
any spare income for the $1,000+ pricetag for windows accessibility (first year
SMA + initial cost of JAWS for $850).
up until this last year, I was able to function as a system administrator with
low vision. 15 months ago I finally lost all eyesight and have had to request
VR services in order to get retrained to better operate in an IT environment.
so far, I am still waiting for the state of Arizona to get on with it.
-eric
On Dec 7, 2011, at 10:34 PM, Robert Cole wrote:
Hello, Michael, all.
As concerning this topic, it was suggested to me on the gnome-accessibility
mailing list that a Testimonials page would be beneficial in allowing users to
share their stories about how assistive technologies such as Orca as well as
other applications have improved their lives and have made them more productive
in a Linux environment as a way to promote open source technologies and free
desktops.
I have begun to develop a testimonials page [1], and I would also like to
request the aid of other users in providing (freely) their experiences with
these technologies.
I want to add that I am not a paid professional of any sort. I am simply a
visually impaired user who wants to see accessibility-related technologies
flourish in an open source environment. I was a Windows user until 2007 when I
completely switched to Linux. I could not afford the prices of commercially
available assistive technologies, nor could I afford to pay for upgrades for
these technologies. I was running an updated Windows system with old and
outdated assistive technology software, which made things difficult. I, to this
day, still am having difficulty with finding work due to my visual disability,
but I use my computer system to learn new skills and to keep myself informed
(as I am a Computer Information Systems student, due to graduate after this
semester). I can honestly say that I would have not been able to come this far
if not for open source technologies. Though I am sure that someone could
probably do a much better job on the page listed in the footnote of this
message, this is (as best as I am able to do it) my small contribution to the
big picture.
If anyone has a brief story or testimonial which you would like added to the
page, please feel free to write to me off-list (or on-list if it is alright to
do so). It was suggested that users provide a picture of themselves along with
their testimonials, but this is not absolutely mandatory.
Orca and screen magnification are absolutely vital to me as a blind user.
Without these technologies available, I would be at a tremendous loss, and I
definitely would not be able to pursue a career in the field which I love so
much--computer science/IT.
Thanks for any input, and thanks for posting this here, Michael.
[1] Accessibility Testimonials: http://live.gnome.org/Accessibility/Testimonials
On 12/07/2011 04:13 PM, Michael Hall wrote:
Forwarding this on to the Ubuntu accessibility team, and they might have
some good real-life stories to share as well.
Michael Hall
[email protected]
On 12/06/2011 12:50 PM, Stormy Peters wrote:
On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 12:22 PM, Dave Neary<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Do we have some examples of GNOME users whose lives were made
measurably better because of the a11y work we've done? Show-cases
work wonders.
I agree with Dave that a quote or a case study would make it more real.
People are much more willing to donate to save a particular kid ("Joey")
who is sick than they are to donate to an organization that helps
vaccinate 1000s of kids.
Also, I think we should end with a call to action. What do we want them
to do? ex: "Donate $25 now and help us reach another person."
Stormy
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