Re: (In)Accessibility of Unity in current Precise
On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 4:13 PM, Nolan Darilek wrote: > So how do we change this? Assistive technology relies on automation UIs. Automated testing can use automation UIs. End-user scripting can use automation UIs. If *nix environments used automation UIs to drive testability and scriptability, there'd be a lot less breakage for assistive technology. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: why using graphics mode for a11y?
On 5/1/09 11:32, Hugh Sasse wrote: > On Sun, 28 Dec 2008, Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis wrote: [snip] >> Opera is a good example of browser that attempts to cater towards the >> needs of a wide variety of different disabilities: >> >> * It has zoom and fit-to-width capabilities. > > I've not found those. Opera's "View" menu includes a "Zoom" submenu with a selection of zoom levels and a "Fit to Width" checkbox. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: why using graphics mode for a11y?
On 28/12/08 21:11, jonathon wrote: > The practical reality is that a11y requirements can be mutually > exclusive. What works for one set of a11y issues, need not, and often > actively hinders, a different set of a11y issues. Do you have a knockout example of accessibility requirements where the different needs could not be met by reconfiguration in a single browser? Opera is a good example of browser that attempts to cater towards the needs of a wide variety of different disabilities: * It has zoom and fit-to-width capabilities. * You can set a minimum font size. * It comes bundled with a range of built-in alternate stylesheets, including high contrast layouts. * You can apply a user stylesheet. * It has the best built-in keyboard navigation of any popular browser, including spatial navigation with the arrow keys, skipping from form control to form control with the tab key, skipping from link to link, skipping from heading to heading. * On Windows, the Voice plugin allows Opera both to read webpages and be controlled by voice. * It includes screen reader support on Windows and Mac. (This is currently in a somewhat rudimentary state having recently been reintroduced, but it is there.) I wouldn't say it has absolutely everything - for example, it doesn't include a provision for turning words into pictures like WebWide can - and it's not my browser of choice, but I don't see any fundamental technical barriers to adding new things to Opera's toolkit. The value of keeping these things in one browser is a lot of the complicated work that browsers do needs doing for a wide range of disabilities, including: * HTTP and FTP protocol communciation * Parsing the various languages and codes (HTML, CSS, image formats). * Scripting engine (JavaScript). * Visual rendering of webpages. This work would have to duplicated if there were to be browsers dedicated to every disability group under the sun. Catering to different disabilities is purely a matter of adding the ideal content transformations and user interface to match. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: why using graphics mode for a11y?
On 26/12/08 10:36, Nuno Donato wrote: > What is the advantage of using something so complicated as a graphical > user interface, instead of using a text-only alternative? I'd suggest the number one advantage, leaving aside any more theoretical differences, is the ability for blind people to use the same software as other users. Most popular programs are GUI programs. The pool of developers happy to work on software for everyone is much larger than the pool of developers interested in developing text-only software or developing software for people who are blind, and it's less effort to add in accessibility information for GUI programs than rebuild every program as text-only. Equally important is the social angle. Using the same programs as friends and colleagues means being able to share knowledge or play together more easily. Being able to use a GUI program can also make the difference between employability and non-employability. If Linux wants to be a genuine business alternative, then it needs a GUI office suite and that suite needs to be accessible. Also, as software services increasingly move online and as the line between content-driven webpages and web applications is ever more blurred, the ability to use a JS-capable, ARIA-supporting browser like Firefox is paramount. There's nothing like this among the various text browsers. > The graphical interface is interesting and can speed the use of the > computer. But in case of blind people I feel it slows down even more as > we have to create a mental image of the interface. I think the distinction can be exaggerated. Plenty of text-only programs have interfaces and rely on visual positioning, colors, and symbols to communicate rather than using simple input and output models. Most browsers and editors fall into that category for instance. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: New To Ubuntu and Orca
Storm Dragon wrote: > Firefox almost doesn't work at all with it. For > a long time, I couldn't get Orca to speek when using the arrow keys, > only with tab. It doesn't report links or headings or lists, only > text. Have a look at: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/Firefox > It also loses speech when I go in to some of the different programs > like update manager or add remove. Have a look at: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/SysAdmin Plenty other information on the Orca wiki generally: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/ Hope that helps. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca script language manual
Hammer Attila wrote: > I would like learn how can i make script for Orca with new applications. > Have any good documentation with orca script language? There's a bit of documentation about this on the Orca wiki: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/AppSpecificSettings http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp But ask on the Orca list for more information: http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Who do I tell
You could quit Orca with Insert-Q: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/KeyboardCommands Then press Alt+F2, type "orca", and press Enter to start Orca again when you want to. Or you could mute the volume temporarily. The Dell 1420 laptop includes a set of 7 media control button on the top right of the keyboard. There's a group of four on the left, then a group of three on the right. The first button in the group of three is the mute or unmute button. There is documentation of this, but Dell have relied on diagrams rather than putting it into a particularly accessible format: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1420/en/OM/about.htm#wp1187428 It might be worth raising that issue with their customer support. You didn't say whether you have compiled the latest version of Orca, or are just running an old standard package: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/DownloadInstall If it's still a problem in the latest version, you should consider writing the Orca mailing list or filing a bug in the Gnome bug tracker: http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list http://live.gnome.org/Orca/Bugs It may well turn out to be a problem with Thunderbird but the Orca developers are probably best placed to determine that. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis Herzog wrote: > Who can I tell my bug discoveries to so my wining gets to the right > UBUNTU guy(s) who could help fix them.? > > I use Ubuntu and Orca, which came on my new Dell 1420 Laptop. > > I have been getting updates, I don't know whether thru Dell, Ubuntu, or ??? > So far they have been useful. But to whom can I tell the changes that > are bad, or still needed? > > For instance, now there is no way I know of to shut Orca off. > You wonder why I would want to!! > The answer is that in Thunderbird, when I try to send mail, a box asks > for THE My password, which is the one for the ISP. > If ORCA is off, it will work, and I can send mail, or receive mail.; and > I can check the box that says remember this password. > I am sighted; a blind person could never cope. > Now I can only cope by removing ORCA, signing on, remembering the > password being checked, and then reinstall Orca. > > Actually I don't cope, I just use my windows XP machine and JAWS, which > works with thunderbird fairly well, but not yet good enough for a blind > person, (my wife) to use. She uses Eudora. > > I suspect that ORCA or maybe it is only the echo part of it, > interacting, that might causes other boxes, maybe not only passwords, to > fail Wil Herzog > . > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Image-only CAPTCHA registration for Ubuntu Forums
Just for your information, I've started a topic on Ubuntu Forums to discuss better ways of prevented automated signups than the image-only CAPTCHA they're currently using: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3330426 If you are registered or can get someone to register for you, it's best to respond in the thread on the Forums themselves. Otherwise, feel free to respond here and if your responses contain new information I'll add them to the thread there. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: orca not reading some administration screens
At the moment, that won't work when a configuration screen requires administrator (root) access. For a way to get it working, follow the instructions under the heading "Preferred Way (GNOME 2.18 and Better)" at: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/SysAdmin -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis Pranav Lal wrote: > Hi all, > > I am running Ubuntu 7.04 in a virtual machine. When I start orca, I find > that it does not read certain system administration screens. For example, > if I try the menu item labelled "networks", I am able to enter my password > and, after that, orca does not read any text on the screen. This is a > nuisance since I need to configure some of these settings. > > Any one any ideas on what could be happening? > Pranav > > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: customising orca for different applications
Yes, it is possible. See: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/AppSpecificSettings How far the different OpenOffice programs count as a different application however, I'm not certain. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis Pranav Lal wrote: > Hi all, > > Is it possible to customise orca for a particular application? For example, > in ubuntu 7.04, I have an option of using various open office programs. I > would like orca to speak differently in these programmes. It is this > possible to do? > > Pranav > > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: sharing folders
I think the problem here is the problem of using Orca with applications that require administrative access, which is a bug that's still be worked on. It should certainly be possible to do the same thing from the command line, if necessary. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis mike coulombe wrote: > Ok, I found the problem I was having, but don't know how to solve it. > If you press the ap key when a folder is marked you get a context menu. > One of the choices is share this folder. Up to this point orca works fine. > However, after pressing enter the screen goes back to your browser. When my > daughter did this she used the mouse and got another menu after clicking on > the share this folder that gave choices to not share it, share it in windows > networks and so on. > My question is how can this be made accessible to those of us who use a > screen reader. > Mike. > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: firefox
Yes you can save as text, although the interface is a bit confusing. In the Save Page As dialogue, change the name to end in .txt not .html. This doesn't change the format, but when you save the file Ubuntu should recognize such files as text files. Next tab to the "Browse for other folders" toggle button and press it. This opens a load of controls, mainly for a selecting where to save your file. But amongst them is a a select combobox control for the file format. As you tab through it will be read as one of: 1. Web Page, complete 2. Web Page, HTML Only 3. Text Files 4. All Files You want to change it so that Text Files is selected. I found that sometimes when I changed the control it didn't read the new value, but pressing Orca Key + Return (to say Where I Am) always revealed the current value. If this proves difficult, there are loads of other ways of accomplishing the same thing. e.g.: 1) Select All, then Copy and Paste into GEdit and save the resultant text. 2) Save the webpage to disk as HTML then use a program like html2text to convert it. (To install that, just sudo apt-get install html2text .) 3) Convert the page to text with an online converter such as http://cgi.w3.org/cgi-bin/html2txt, then save the result. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis mike coulombe wrote: > Hi, I went to save a web page in firefox and didn't see the option to save it > as a txt file. > Is this possible or does firefox only save as html. > It did say save as, so I would assume different formats are possible. The > name was the only thing I saw using the tab that could be changed. > Mike. > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: firefox
Press ctrl + L to go to the Location bar. The current contents will be selected automatically, so you can just type in your desired address right over them. Then press enter to go to the new URL. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis mike coulombe wrote: > Hi, how do you go to a site in firefox. > I tab to a search and type in a site, > but get a bunch of other stuff. > I'm sure I just don't know the shortcut key for this. > One other question, I got the orca source but autogen doesn't seem to do > anything. > Is this suppose to be the first step to build a install. > Mike. > X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 000736-2, 04/26/2007), Outbound message > X-Antivirus-Status: Clean > > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: need info on menus
Hi Mike, your subject line mentions "menus" but your text mentions "a directory". Which did you mean to talk about? The Linux terminal does have autocompletion functionality (using the tab key) and GNOME menus do jump to the option with a first letter matching a keypress. For example, if I go to the Applications menu, then press U, the selection jumps to Utilities. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis mike coulombe wrote: > Hi, I have always noticed in ubuntu when I am in a directory > and press the first letter of what I am looking for it doesn't go to that > idem. > I assume this is because you can't do this in gnome like you can in windows. > If this is the case I think adding this feature would be helpful. > X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 000734-0, 04/16/2007), Outbound message > X-Antivirus-Status: Clean > > Mike. > > -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: basic screen reader question
Active screen reader development is now ongoing with Orca not Gnopernicus. Does Gnopernicus allow you to do something Orca does not? -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: need some info
There are instructions at: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/Firefox -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: just a ideaa
mike coulombe wrote: > I think it would be a good idea to have the volume control in the preferences > menu. It would certainly make sense for it to be part of the Sound settings, which are in the Preferences menu. But I assume this would need to be fixed upstream in Gnome. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: is there a problem with open office
mike coulombe wrote: > Hi, I noticed that open office doesn't load at all. Sounds like a problem peculiar to your system, I'm afraid. What version of Ubuntu are you using, and how are you starting OpenOffice.org? -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: a question about gnome
Those applications should be accessible now. However you will need to login to Gnome and start Orca as root, not an ordinary user account. If you haven't already done so, you will need to enable the root account: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo This shouldn't be required. It is a known issue with the Gnome accessibility framework, it is being worked on, but as far as I can see it hasn't yet been fixed. See the following bug: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=163132 Hope that helps. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Help needed
Satyam wrote: > 1. When I tried to use Orca with Firefox, I am not able to read full page > contents. Only some part of the page is read. > How I can read Headings, Tables and lists? If you want to use the versions of Orca and Firefox that came with Ubuntu, I'd suggest using Orca with ELinks or another text browser (e.g. Lynx or W3M) in a Gnome Terminal. Alternatively, download the Fire Vox extension and use that. You may want to install Sun Java and the FreeTTS speech engine to use with it. Instructions for installing FreeTTS can be found at: http://mail.gnome.org/archives/orca-list/2007-January/msg00215.html Fire Vox can give you a list of headings, if that's what you mean by "read Headings". A third option is to pull down the latest versions of Orca and Firefox Minefield (which will become Firefox 3), as they now have somewhat better integration. For instructions on installing Orca see: http://live.gnome.org/Orca/UbuntuEdgyEft The latest Firefox can be downloaded from: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/firefox-3.0a2pre.en-US.linux-i686.tar.bz2 You can untar it in /opt with "tar xvfj". I usually set up a new profile for use with additional versions of Firefox. > 2. How to setup internet connections? > I found that in administration menu There is an option to connect to > internet. > It is asking for IP address but I use dynamic addressing scheme. My service > provider gave me User name and Password. I'd need more details about your network to be much help here, but if you're using ethernet not wireless, go into Networking, selected Wired Connection, then Properties, then Automatic Configuration, then for Configuration pick "Automatic Configuration (DHCP)" not "Static IP Address". I hope that helped a little. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Languages and Speech synthesis
That's great work Gilles! It would be good to have download information, and also details on what sort of tweaks are required. For example, could these tweaks be attempted by end-users or do they absolutely need developers or what? -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca on laptops.
Willie Walker wrote: > If this constraint is acceptable, I think we're done. If the majority > of users are adamant about obtaining normal Caps Lock behavior via some > other gesture on the same key (e.g., a quick double press of Caps Lock), > well, we'll need to think about it. If users say that kind of thing is > a "nice to have", however, I'd prefer we note it as a future enhancement > and not over engineer at this point. > > I'd also like everyone to keep the other bigger picture in mind: even > with our generous community members helping, we're a small team and each > feature (even the hours spent discussing the feature) has an opportunity > cost. For example, I'm engaged in this discussion right now versus > focusing on Firefox accessibility. Mike is engaged in documenting this > discussion instead of focusing on other important aspects of the Orca > design. Bill is engaged in this discussion instead of focusing on high > priority AT-SPI implementation problems. I'd like to just say "go forth and fix Firefox accessibility" as that's what most interests /me/, but I feel I have to be responsible and point out that when a slightly jokey proposal to eliminate caps lock once and for all was laid before the Slashdot hordes it was rapidly revealed that certain corporate situations required data entry all in capitals: http://tinyurl.com/kvo3l See for example this comment on that submission: http://tinyurl.com/tg63q I'm not sure if that makes access to normal caps lock behaviour a "must have" or a "nice to have". As far as I can see, it's not as crucial as effective web access, but that may be my bias talking. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca on laptops.
With regards to alternatives to the numeric keypad, might it make sense to offer Emacs- and Vim-style movement keys as options? Just a thought. Also, as though to prove how important this issue is, here's a post just sent to the Mozilla dev-accessibility list in which a would-be Ubuntu and Orca user despairs over his inability to manage keyboard combinations and shortcuts: http://tinyurl.com/yde2sm Does anyone happen to know how he could restore default Gnome settings for keyboard shortcuts? I had a look in my home directory and GConf and couldn't work out where the main shortcuts are stored. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca on laptops.
On 11/8/06, Bill Haneman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't see that option in the preferences dialog - you can indeed alter > the way CapsLock works, and whether the Shift key cancels CapsLock or > not, but it seems to be a latching key in all cases, as far as I can tell. Just tested it on my Ubuntu Edgy box, and as far I can tell you're mistaken. In Keyboard preferences, look for the "Layout Options", then "Compose key position". Now I have a British Thinkpad keyboard. If I tick "Right alt is compose" then pressing [AltGr] + ['] (that's apostrophe) then [e] outputs an e acute. But let's say I tick "Caps Lock is Compose". Now two things happen. First Caps Lock no longer affects capitalization. And second, it acts just like [AltGr] before. If I press [Caps Lock] + ['] then [e], it outputs an e acute. But pressing [Caps Lock] then ['] then [e] outputs an apostrophe then a normal e. Doesn't that imply it is no longer latching? -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca on laptops.
On 11/8/06, Bill Haneman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Luke Yelavich wrote: > > ... > > In Windows, Jaws manages to prevent the capslock key from being latched > > or unlatched. To latch/unlatch, you press shift + Capslock, or press > > capslock twice quickly. > > > I see. I expect that would be a hazardous and/or fragile thing to > attempt on X, especially if, as I believe, the latching behavior is a > hardware feature on some (most?) keyboards. On Windows you could > circumvent this by meddling with the keyboard drivers, but I think we > want to avoid getting that intrusive. So we should probably consider > CapsLock to be an always-latching key, IMO. I thought the Gnome Keyboard preferences already allowed one to make CapsLock a simple modifier key for entering special characters? When this is done, is it still latching? -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca on laptops.
Samuel Thibault wrote: > > There's nothing wrong with having sensible defaults, but I struggle to > > believe there is a set of magic bindings which work on all hardware. > > Even on Apple Mac hardware ? The keyboard is really far from PC > keyboards... Perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm saying that there is no set of key bindings which will work on all hardware. Therefore we need more than one set of default layouts. Samuel Thibault asks: > Wouldn't it be possible, when orca is very first launched, to just ask > the user to press the key she will want to use, and then let her > configure it again later on if needed? It's not quite that simple, because some users have easy access to numeric keypads and some don't, as the original post mentioned. But whatever defaults are suggested, the user should be allowed to override on start up. Users do need guidance, however, as some will be using not just Orca but Linux for the first time. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca on laptops.
There's nothing wrong with having sensible defaults, but I struggle to believe there is a set of magic bindings which work on all hardware. How about running a configuration program at Orca's first startup that would take information about the user's keyboard as input (the Ubuntu installer already includes a program for guessing keyboard layouts) and generate a set of sane defaults based on that? We would need two basic Orca sets: one for keyboards with easy number pad access, and one for keyboard layouts without. The remaining problem is what would be the Orca modifier key. How about a list of potential Orca keys in order of preference, with the configuration program presenting the first available key as default. How about something like the following list: Right Windows key Left Windows key Insert AltGr/Right alt Scroll lock Caps Lock "Access IBM" and similar keys Special navigation keys (my Thinkpad has back and forwards keys for web navigation) It seems to me crucial to change Orca (and LSR) keys from the same control panel that configures other Gnome key bindings in order to minimize conflicts with core Gnome bindings for application functionality and special character entry. The question of the Orca keys is but a symptom of a much larger problem. Key bindings, with their inherent tension between supplementing and replacing the mouse, between interfaces accessible and making them faster, are a naturally complex subject. In the case of Linux, the horrible problem of key bindings is exacerbated both by the sheer range of hardware that can run Linux and by the glorious chaos of its software. Running Vim in a Gnome Terminal or a web application in Mozilla on Gnome with Orca enabled creates a serious potential for conflicts between key bindings. And when you're dependent on the keyboard, such conflicts threaten basic usability. Despite its intrinsic difficulties, the problem of key bindings is extremely unsexy. So if I were to say, for example, that we need a control panel that, when the user changes a key binding, can introspect the configuration files of key end-user applications for conflicts, I am not optimistic I would attract many enthusiasts for building it. Yet that is precisely what a humane interface for configuring key bindings demands. If one baulks even at the idea of coding a program that can juggle key bindings, is it fair to expect human beings to do so? Surely a control panel that could resolve conflicts between web access keys and Orca, or Vim and Orca is not intrinsically impossible? The biggest obstacle would seem to be gathering information about the modes and contexts in which console application key combinations apply, but that's not exactly an insurmountable problem. -- Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
[Bug 64188] Enabling Orca breaks Gnome on Edgy LiveCD
Public bug reported: Binary package hint: gnome-orca I burnt the latest ISO of the Edgy Live CD on 6 October 2006, verified its integrity, and launched Gnome. Things seemed to be working fine, so I started Orca from the Applications menu. In the setup script, I said "yes" to the first option, "no" to the rest. It said to log out and log in again, which I did. But the Gnome splash screen rectangle (where icons appear as parts of Gnome loaded) remained overlaid on the Desktop. If I selected an application such as Text Editor or Terminal from the menu, a "Launching..." message would appear in the bottom panel, then eventually disappear. No application appeared. ** Affects: gnome-orca (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: Unconfirmed -- Enabling Orca breaks Gnome on Edgy LiveCD https://launchpad.net/bugs/64188 -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
