Open Letter: How the FOSS Community May Help Disabled Users

Robert L Cochran cochranb at speakeasy.net
Fri Apr 28 20:51:57 UTC 2006


M. Fioretti wrote:

>Greetings,
>
>the following letter has already been posted on Linux Today and
>www.lxer.com. Please give to it the greatest diffusion you can, and
>evaluate in your LUG (or any other FOSS association!) the possibility
>to organize the kind of initiative described in the letter (*).
>
>Excerpt:
>
>"I recently wrote an article about the serious communication problems
>between the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) community and disabled
>users. The feedback on several forums, including Slashdot, prove that
>I was right. Here is a practical proposals on how any group of FOSS
>advocates may fill this gap in its own community..."
>
>Full letter at:
>
>http://www.hudlug.org.uk/wiki/Foss_And_Disabled_Users (wiki)
>http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/hudlug/2006-April/001201.html (original static version)
>
>Best Regards,
>		Marco Fioretti
>
>You are encouraged to translate this announce and the full letter in
>any language you can!
>
>(*) and of course, if you do it, please let me know!
>
>  
>
I've had the chance to befriend deaf individuals from several countries 
and work with several blind individuals from the USA, and I agree that a 
lot more can be done to make open source software accessible to the 
disabled. In Europe, disabled users are generally not well treated and 
their accessibility needs not often considered. More accessible software 
would make it much easier for these individuals to work on a level 
playing field with their non-disabled peers. Disabled users in the USA 
have need of accessible software too. I sit right next to a blind person 
who has a lot of difficulty with GUI-based software.

I realize that if I do a little more homework and code a little 
differently, I can make my software usable to all people. Open software 
should be for everyone, not just those with eyes, ears, and limbs that 
work and well-developed motor skills.

Bob Cochran





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