Fernando,
It doesn't have to be Emacs; it could be a generic Web browser
for instance. What does need to change however is the somewhat
broken model of black-box closed access technologies that force
the rest of the industry to debug accessibility into existence.
>>>>> "Fernando" == Fernando <my.lists@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
Fernando> I agree we need a challenge, but I would argue that
Fernando> rather than Nielsen, we should challenge ourselves
Fernando> to bring the efficiency and effectiveness of
Fernando> Emacspeak to more people. After all, Nielsen's
Fernando> conclusions are scientifically valid for probably
Fernando> 99% of all persons with disabilities currently
Fernando> online.
Fernando>
Fernando> How this should or can take place, I do not
Fernando> know. But I think we cannot blame users for falling
Fernando> into the trap of inferior tools when they are not
Fernando> aware of alternatives and when the alternatives are
Fernando> so difficult to find, install, and learn.
Fernando>
Fernando> I have been trying to figure out ways to make
Fernando> access to Emacs easier, and have also thought about
Fernando> finding a way to fund a scientifically valid study
Fernando> where Emacs is compared to more conventional tools,
Fernando> so I am glad to see Raman bringing that idea up.
Fernando> If anyone would like to be part of such a study, or
Fernando> has suggestions of potential funding sources, etc,
Fernando> please contact me directly.
Fernando>
Fernando> Fernando Botelho
Fernando>
Fernando> -----Original Message----- From: Janina Sajka
Fernando> [mailto:janina@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, December
Fernando> 21, 2007 9:42 AM To: T. V. Raman Cc:
Fernando> emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [emacspeak The
Fernando> Complete Audio Desktop] Web Accessibility
Fernando> AndUsability: Comin...
Fernando>
Fernando> You raise very valid points, Raman. Perhaps we
Fernando> might consider a challenge to Nielsen. Perhaps we
Fernando> could point out that their presuppositions are
Fernando> unfair and lead to unhelpful conclusions? As you
Fernando> point out, it's the task, not the particular web
Fernando> site for that task, which matters. And, the
Fernando> performance of users with minimal skills and
Fernando> inadequate tools is certainly a questionable
Fernando> measure.
Fernando>
Fernando> Janina
Fernando>
Fernando> T. V. Raman writes:
>> The Nielsen Norman Group has made available a detailed
>> report on accessibility, which includes the results of
>> several usability tests --- see Going Beyond Alt
>> Text. It's a very good read, and though its conclusions
>> might be depressing to people coming to this area from the
>> outside --- they should be no surprize to users who have
>> been trying to use the Web via spoken output over the last
>> 10 years. From the perspective of the Emacspeak user who
>> lives in a specialized browsing environment that is
>> optimized for performing oft-repeated tasks, there are
>> several interesting take-aways from this report:
>>
>> - Though so-called Web Accessibility Standards have
>> attempted to focus on the behavior observed when using
>> screenreaders with mainstream browsers, that thread of
>> work appears to be achieving little with respect to the
>> real metric of task completion. As technologists, we would
>> all do well to remember that users come to the Web, and
>> Web Access solutions not to use the browser but rather to
>> complete one or other task. - As described in Specialized
>> Browsers and The Web The Way You Want It, task-oriented
>> access and specialized user-optimized web tools have been
>> around since the inception of the Web. - Though the
>> Nielsen study asked users to carry out each of the given
>> tasks by going to a given Web site, it would be
>> interesting to see how such tasks work out in the
>> Emacspeak environment. It's a given that an emacspeak user
>> trying to buy a music CD at an online store would run into
>> a brick wall fairly quickly (see, even online stores are
>> made of brick and mortar;-)). However, as an Emacspeak
>> user I'd never do that I'd either go to Amazon's highly
>> efficient Amazon Accessible Store or faster yet, type an
>> appropriate query at Google and click on the relevant Ad
>> that sports a Google Checkout badge. - And more
>> interestingly, it would be interesting to carry out a
>> follow-up user study to compare the rate of task
>> completion as well as observed efficiencies/inefficiencies
>> between users of Emacspeak and generic
>> browser/screenreader combinations for tasks such as: -
>> Play NPR news from the last hour. - Play your local NPR
>> station. - Play BBC News from the last hour. - Skim the
>> top stories from CNN. - Look up today's stock market
>> numbers for the major indices. - And items too numerous
>> to enumerate in this margin.
>>
>> --
>> Posted By T. V. Raman to emacspeak The Complete Audio
>> Desktop at 12/20/2007 02:49:00 PM
Fernando> --
Fernando>
Fernando> Janina Sajka, Phone: +1.202.595.7777;
Fernando> sip:janina@xxxxxxxxxxx Partner, Capital Accessibility
Fernando> LLC http://CapitalAccessibility.Com
Fernando>
Fernando> Marketing the Owasys 22C talking screenless cell
Fernando> phone in the U.S. and Canada Learn more at
Fernando> http://ScreenlessPhone.Com
Fernando>
Fernando> Chair, Open Accessibility janina@xxxxxxxxxxx Linux
Fernando> Foundation http://a11y.org
Fernando>
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--
Best Regards,
--raman
Email: raman@xxxxxxxxxxx
WWW: http://emacspeak.sf.net/raman/
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