Re: Request for comment (accessibility team): release date for GNOME 3.0

[Willie Walker <William Walker Sun COM>]

Hi Steve:

(release team removed from TO/CC)

> That was great. Lets see if there is a way of getting
> project:possibility students involved. To date they have worked on new
> projects, which is good for their motivation but bad for the projects
> which are then left languishing. It would be good to explore ways for
> some them do GNOME features that are needed and can be done within
> either the SS12 weekend or the longer Semesta. They would need
> mentoring as they are CS students on course that have no OSS or a11y
> components and doing it extra curricular. To date it has also been a
> feature of P:P to get mentors who are fairly new in industry.

I think there's a few sides to this.

One of the most important sides is getting accessible design 
considerations to be made by application and toolkit developers 
themselves.  This is the thing that needs a cultural shift like the one 
we are seeing in GNOME and Mozilla.  Things that can help with this are 
presentations, "quick read" documents that introduce people to the space 
without overwhelming them, exposure to people with disabilities, etc. 
The hard part for technology people coming into the a11y space is that 
this side is more about education and documentation than writing code or 
twisting knobs on a CNC machine.

Another side is developing the access solutions themselves.  IMO, these 
need to be done in cooperation with end users and domain experts with a 
focus on providing solutions for end users vs. just developing 
technology for the sake of developing technology.  Operating in an 
insular manner (e.g., closing your eyes and pretending you are blind and 
then coming up with a solution that you tell blind people they need) 
doesn't always yield good results.  From the Project:Possibility web 
site, it appears as though it may be tied in well with the accessibility 
community, so that's good.

Another side is development tools that encourage accessible design 
(e.g., "sorry, you cannot save your work on this GUI layout because it 
is inaccessible." ;-)).  These tools also include testing/emulation 
facilities, such as something that will change the colors of the entire 
display so it emulates various levels/types of color blindness.

> > The danger of funding dollars, however, is that they run out.  Like a
> > coin-operated ride in front of the grocery store, they are awesome while
> > they last, but they come to end almost before you expect it.  With
> > mainstream developers making a11y design choices over their entire
> > development cycle, I think we can reach a more cost effective and
> > self-perpetuating culture.
>
> Absolutely, and even more so when part of a diverse community around
> each project and also GNOME a11y. The question is how to nurture it?


Education, advocacy, and sex appeal. :-)

Will