Re: getting orca included in gnome 2.16

["Al Puzzuoli" <alpuzz gmail com>]

I for one, would be happy to see this occur for a number of reasons:

1.  usability.  I have been working with Orca for several months, and one of
the things I remember from the outset is being pleasantly surprised by the
minimal learning curve involved in getting accustomed to the program.  In
most cases, Orca is very good at automatically reading relevant information,
and if it does become necessary to use flat review, the process is very
intuitive, with virtually no need to consult documentation.  Therefore, new
users of Orca are free to concentrate on accomplishing their day to day
tasks, while the screen reader does its job in the background.  This ease of
use  could also help pave the way for new users making the transition from
windows to the Gnome desktop.

2.  scriptability.  End users are already seeing dividends from the
scriptable approach.  Even though Orca is still in a relatively early stage
in terms of development, it already offers unparalleled accessibility to
applications such as Evolution, Gaim, and the Open or Star Office suites.

The above are just a few of the reasons why I believe that Orca's inclusion 
into the desktop would be advantageous.  It really seems like the logical 
next step  in terms of Gnome accessibility, and at least from my perspective 
as an end user, I can't see any downsides at all if it were to take place.

--Al




  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Pedersen" <Michael Pedersen Sun COM>
To: <orca-list gnome org>
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 2:06 PM
Subject: getting orca included in gnome 2.16


> Hello All:
>
> As part of the Orca development process, we are proposing Orca's
> inclusion into version 2.16 of the GNOME desktop.  Several users and
> distributions have inquired about the possibility of this.
>
> This is in no way an attempt to remove Gnopernicus as an alternative
> for blind and low-vision users.  As a matter of fact, we very much
> appreciate the efforts of the Gnopernicus team in paving the way
> toward an accessible GNOME desktop over the past several years.
> We have been informed, however, that there can be only one screen
> reader/magnifier in the GNOME desktop.
>
> We would appreciate any feedback from the user community regarding
> this change.  If any of you whom have used Orca would be willing to
> give detailed examples of why you do or do not think this is a good
> idea and send them to the list it would be great.  Examples we are
> looking for include access to certain applications as well as your
> perceptions of the screen reader usability in general.  Any
> information you give will be very beneficial in helping the GNOME
> maintainers make an informed decision on how to proceed.
>
> Thank you, and we look forward to your feedback,
>
> The Orca Team
>
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