Hi everyone,
I have recently switched to Linux (Ubuntu) and started using Pidgin for a few protocols. It is very accessible, and some steps have already been taken to make it really comfortable for screen reader users. However, I find some strategies to be actually harming accessibility and I would like to have your opinion, and get first ideas about how to solve it. If it takes a plugin, despite my lack of knowledge about Pidgin for the time being, I am quite willing to try and produce it.
First let me remind you of the context. I use Orca as a screen reader on Ubuntu (the Gnome desktop). I installed Pidgin without any problem and launched it. My primary need was to be able to talk on IRC, so I created an account on the Freenode server and joined some channels in development I have frequented for some time now. Typing text, and reading the list of answers, is really easy with Orca, and without need of any special feature. Every message that I send or receive from any channel no matter in which window I am is spoken by Orca. And that's where it gets a bit problematic: although it is usually a good thing for accessibility, on very busy IRC channels, it turns into a practical nightmare. Reading messages one by one becomes very difficult as they are interrupted by new users adding in their two cents about the issue. The user (I, in this case) gets confused on what was spoken first, what was spoken last, and usually has the most remote concept of message endings. In fact, on very busy IRC channels, this can prevent being able to read anything when the audience rises to more than 5-6 users speaking (with a rate of one message per second, for instance).
I thought, at first, that this was due to libnotify, and I went to check. I removed all notifications to the system and this, at least, solved an issue: I don't get interrupted when a new user joins one of my protocols. However, removing the message notification in libnotify didn't solve my most important issue. Although it is quite difficult when you are in an active conversation, this becomes worse if you have an active conversation in the background and are minding your own business, coding or writing or reading. Interruptions don't cease with the change of focus. Again, this can be a good feature for accessibility, as long as the amount of messages doesn't go too high.
My first question would be: is this a feature or a side-effect? Perhaps it's something hard-coded into Orca itself. If it's a side-effect, can something be done about it already? I didn't see "accessibility" tab in preferences, and I can understand why, the need isn't that great for most users. I was thinking about adding a plugin with some internal features to change the TTS (text-to-speech) configuration: do not talk if I'm outside of the window, for instance. Or do not talk at all. Or do not talk in this protocol. Or... you could have some interesting settings there, actually. Of course, doing this as a plugin wouldn't work if it's a feature that is coded in the main Pidgin client itself.
I would greatly appreciate your ideas and take on this issue. I know this isn't a "common" issue, and I don't wish to make any developer's life harder, quite the contrary!
Have a very good morning, afternoon or evening, Vincent _______________________________________________ Support@pidgin.im mailing list Want to unsubscribe? Use this link: https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/support
