Comment Re:Has anyone really thought this through ? (Score 1) 99
Microsoft *does* make good software for blind people - one of my better friends is blind, and she is often saying how much easier microsoft programs are to control with voice commands.
It's important to remember that lack of sight doesn't stop people from typing - indeed, she's a better typer than I am, because she *has* to touch type properly. The key is, proper shortcut keys to control everything you need to do, and designing interfaces so they work with screen readers - something which Microsoft has more incentive to do than, say, linux, because *more blind people use windows*.
Linux has the potential to be a very good platform for the blind, and I think this new distribution may be a big step forward - in fact, I noted down the URL for this when it appeared on freshmeat a couple of days ago to pass it on *grin* - but it's not there yet.
I must start looking into a blind-persons interface for the irc lcient I was working on one of these days. A "good" interface for a blind person is *very* different to one for a sighted person, simply because you have to work with the screen reader.
It's important to remember that lack of sight doesn't stop people from typing - indeed, she's a better typer than I am, because she *has* to touch type properly. The key is, proper shortcut keys to control everything you need to do, and designing interfaces so they work with screen readers - something which Microsoft has more incentive to do than, say, linux, because *more blind people use windows*.
Linux has the potential to be a very good platform for the blind, and I think this new distribution may be a big step forward - in fact, I noted down the URL for this when it appeared on freshmeat a couple of days ago to pass it on *grin* - but it's not there yet.
I must start looking into a blind-persons interface for the irc lcient I was working on one of these days. A "good" interface for a blind person is *very* different to one for a sighted person, simply because you have to work with the screen reader.
