Perl for the Disabled

joukev writes "Perl.com is running an article on pVoice. pVoice is an Open Source communication system for severely disabled children written in Perl. I started this for my daughter in 2001. She's still using it and hopefully the medical world will see that there are Open Source alternatives for these kinds of applications. More information on pVoice can be found on the pVoice website (general information) or on the pVoice Developers website."

Comments

Section 508 Compliance

[globalar]

You may remember that Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act in 1998, which applied to the all Federal Agencies and their workforces:

"Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities.

from section508.gov

After this the Federal Government created the Accessibility Forum to bring industry and government into some agreement and cooperation on standards, as well as highlight existing technology and its weaknesses.

I spoke with the original Accessibility Forum director and my first question was,"What about open source?"

He said that the major distributions of Linux would not have anything to do with it. It was a commerical field dominated by proprietary business-models. I explained to him that if the government took an initiative for open source software in this area, not just openly approved standards, the results could have global impact for the disabled community. If he really wanted to do something that would help people, I insisted, he should focus on making the technology open and free to use.

Interesting, he also said that the lady representing Microsoft was "a bitch."

I know this is a niche market, certainly much smaller in the open source world, but this is an area where open source software can really help humanity. Want good publicity for the cause? Want to get people to notice OSS and its decidely non-commerical interests? Want people who have never heard of Linux to try a live-linux distribution? Software such as pVoice is one way.

Computers are starting to affect everyone

Re:PC alert!

[Lemmeoutada Collecti]

As someone who is helping two disabled roommates and who's brother is disabled, I can say that the four of us are more offended by people who spend hours arguing over what to call a disabled person rather than addressing the ways to help them.

While yes, many litigious (sp?) society there are lawsuits galore over those words, I would rather hear from someone who dedicates over 50% of their time to helping people. Making changes in that Vocational Rehabilitation system. (Voc Rehab is a disagreeable name in itself, why are they being 'rehabilitated'?)

I myself would be part of that system if I chose to spend my time complaining that I would prefer to be called a 'person with a disability' instead of finding what I AM able to do and getting my butt out there and doing it. I do not rely on any state, social, or other support, and have spent much of my life learning how to improve my able qualities so that I do not need that support.

My biggest pet peeve is not being called one thing or another, but when I let myself fall short of my abilities. I know I am intelligent, and that there are jobs out there that intelligent people can do. I know some can't hear, but there are jobs at which deaf people would have an advantage (Jet Engine Mechanic, other jobs with high noise levels.) The key is to turn the disability into an asset, and use the OTHER abilities you have. Not waste time telling everyone how you cannot do things. Show them what you can do.