Re: [orca-list] Some bugs with perhaps possible fixing in master branch

[Geoff Shang <geoff QuiteLikely com>]

Hi,

This is straying off-topic.  I will attempt to make it relevant so please 
stick with me.

In response to Alex' message asserting that JAWS features are implemented 
due to demand, this may have been true once but it's not necessarily true 
anymore.  Two reasons for this:

1.  They are the most used screen reader, particularly in the USA which is 
their main concern.  As such they can pretty much do what they want.  The 
other screen readers need to play catch-up and everybody knows it.

2.  Many people take out software maintenance agreements for major 
releases of JAWS.  This entitles a person to the next two major releases. 
Back in the day, these major releases were usually worth it, being notable 
upgrades in performance or functionality.  But now, Freedom Scientific has 
effectively made it a two-year support contract because they roll out a 
new major release every single year.  This of course gives them a more 
reliable income stream from SMA customers.  However, it also means that 
they need to come up with enough new features to warrant a new version 
designation, or at least to make it look like people are actually getting 
something for their money.  So this results in highly dubious features 
like ResearchIt that very arguably should not even be in a screen reader 
being touted by FS as a major feature in JAWS 11.

Now I say all this because we should take this into account if we want to 
consider using the functionality present in commercial screen readers as a 
gauge for what should be implemented in free ones.  My point is that the 
wants and needs of the user are not the only things that drive commercial 
screen reader development, and are quite possibly not the most influential 
ones that do.  Since screen readers like Orca are not subject to such 
commercial pressures, and particularly since they also lack the kind of 
development man-power that commercial money can buy, we can and must think 
more about the usefulness of various features rather than merely copy what 
someone else decided to do.

Cheers,
Geoff.