Non-X text mode console

Janina Sajka janina at rednote.net
Tue Sep 16 22:33:58 UTC 2008


Colin Walters writes:
> On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 11:17 AM, Janina Sajka <janina at rednote.net> wrote:
> >
> > You're assuming the X-based assistive technology will become at least as
> > performant as the non X technology is today. I certainly don't regard
> > this to be impossible. I simply note we're not there.
> 
> I am trongly suggesting that accessibility efforts focus on X based
> technology, because that is the focus of the work that goes on in the
> desktop.
> 
And, that's where much of the effort is these days.

However, this doesn't remove a need for a11y in nonX consoles for the
same reasons that others have raised in support of nonX consoles. People
boot their machines to do a particular task--not to view a monitor or
listen to a TTS engine. The monitor and the screen.reader/TTS.engine are
just tools. So, while most users may be more than satisfied on the GUI,
there's the geek who's job is maintaining a rack of servers. Some of
those geeks happen to be persons with disabilities.

I suggest there's a simple way to understand this: Wherever there's a
user interface, there's a need for a11y. Clearly, that's the gui
desktop, but it's also the console. One of these days we'll need to
extend a11y to bios and boot loader as well. If it takes input, there's
someone who needs input alternatives. If it produces output, there's
someone who needs output alternatives.

Janina






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