Re: X Accessibility (Was: Gnopernicus ...)
On Wed, 25 Aug 2004, Kenny Hitt wrote:
> >
> I think you're not understanding the accessibility of Linux. You're
> thinking the only way to use a computer is with a GUI. The only problem
> with Linux Access is with GUI apps. That isn't a big loss, just
> annoying. My only interest in Gnome is Mozilla access.
I agree entirely. I use Linux for everything these days, and have never
owned, used or desired Windows. Basically I moved from DOS to Linux during
the 1990's, rather than from DOS to Windows. After experiencing the power
of LaTeX, for example, I have no interest in using a word processor
anymore. I prepare all of my writing in LaTeX and distribute it in PDF or
HTML, unless of course I am writing for the Web, in which case I create
XHTML directly using one of the XML editing modes of Emacs.
> If a console browser suddenly supported all the features of Mozilla, I
> I would still play with it so I can support my sighted friends who use
> Gnome.
Agreed. According to the developers' Web page, elinks promises to support
Javascript, so it might be what you want. Still, I think Mozilla will far
surpass the capabilities of anything available from the console, and its
accessibility will improve, not only due to the diligence and commitment
of the developers, but also with corporate backing to increase market
share and to meet U.S. and other countries' regulatory requirements
regarding access. >
> >
> Actually, I find Linux to be more accessible than Windows. The catch is
> you have to learn a new way to look at the computer as well as a new set
> of programs. A few years ago, I subscribed to a general accessibility
> discussion list. I finally decided to unsubscribe because most of my
> posts ended up being "I can already do this in Linux, checkout program
> x". The moderator was pushing the idea of a combined interface using
> dialogs and other controls combined with text commands. That's my
> current interface to Linux. Package management in Debian is a good
> example. Sometimes I use apt-get, sometimes apt-cache, and sometimes
> aptitude. It just depends on what I want to do at the time.
Yes, exactly. I mostly use aptitude with command line options, e.g.,
aptitude update && aptitude -dy dist-upgrade && aptitude dist-upgrade
(with the last step, the actual package installation, performed manually
so I can answer the questions along the way and deal with any problems).
As to combining dialogues with text commands in a consistent interface, I
think Emacs is a superb example. While editing in Auctex mode I can either
enter LaTeX command directly, or use keyboard short-cuts, or select from a
menu, or type part of the command and use tab completion. For file
manipulation I can either browse the directory structure interactively to
perform file operations, or type commands at the shell. This is all very
convenient, especially as I have a strong aversion to using menu systems
when I know what I want to accomplish and I want to achieve the desired
result quickly.
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