FW: Editorial: The Potential of Open Source for the Visually Impa ired

[Brent Fulgham <brent.fulgham@xpsystems.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Brent Fulgham [mailto:brent.fulgham@xpsystems.com] 
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 4:54 PM
To: JP S-C
Cc: Debian-Press
Subject: RE: Editorial: The Potential of Open Source for the Visually
Impa ired


Hi JP,

I've forwarded your essay to Debian-Devel, to see if any
developers have skills or interest in this area.  I also
forwarded it to GNU.org to see if they have anything that
could be of help.

I think this project's goals are very important, and
obviously as free software advocates we seek to make
Debian (and all free software) available to all who wish
to use it.

I'm not sure if any of us have skills or experience in the
specific area of the vision-impaired, but hopefully a few
will have time to visit your site and see if they could
help.

One thing that would be useful is an explanation of what
it takes to make software 'usable' to the blind or low-
visioned.  For example:

(*)  Are there API's that editors or mail readers
should make use of to interface with assistance devices?
(*)  Is there new software of some kind that needs to
be written?
(*)  What sorts of things would make Debian easier to
install for the blind?
(*)  Can software voice synthesizers (e.g., the Emacs
voice system) be used to provide useful utilities
for the blind?

Answers to these questions would be very helpful.  I'm
certain that many Debian developers would be more than
happy to help make their existing software packags more
useful to the blind where possible.

Thanks,

-Brent