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The State of Linux Accessibility

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-inclusive dept.

Dog's_Breakfast writes "This week's edition of DistroWatch Weekly News features a unique story entitled 'Linux Accessibility — What is it and Why Does It Matter?' The article was written by Robert Cole, a blind person with a computer science degree. Mr Cole points out that Linux offers an excellent set of free tools for seeing-impaired users. Putting together a similar set of tools on Windows would cost at least US$600, about double what a retail copy of Windows itself costs."

2 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. From the article... by bigredradio · · Score: 5, Informative

    When you boot up an Ubuntu live CD or USB drive, press CTRL+S when you hear a drum sound. This will start the Orca screen reader, and you can either try Ubuntu using Orca or install Ubuntu with your eyes closed; it's entirely your choice. I was able to do a complete installation (including partitioning my drives) without having to look at my screen!

    Didn't know about this option. I have to say that this is pretty cool.

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    Flexible bare-metal recovery for Linux/UNIX
  2. Re:Does it matter? by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Informative

    And I'll add that this is important because, as a sighted developer who once worked on a website specifically intended for blind users, I know it's ridiculously easy to make really bad assumptions about what blind people want. That design with a list of options arranged to be read first is great for a front page, but gets really annoying after it's read on every page....

    Sighted people suck.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.