A wee bit of feedback from a deaf student here...

[Kevin Cole]

Hi,

I think I may have mentioned that I'm working with one deaf student
here who's caught "Linux fever" ;-) and is now trying to be a good
little volunteer.  He's not a techie, but is rapidly trying to become
one.  I mentioned the Accessibility Team to him and suggested he join
us.  Here's his reply.  (This was before I knew about the mailing list.
I've sent him word of that as well, and he may be joining us there soon.)

I gotta be honest though: He's a forgetful sort, and has managed to miss
two opportunities that I've set up for him in the past to meet some
pretty interesting people (e.g. Vint Cerf).

Also, I'll be writing back to him to let him know that some stuff
(visual bells, etc) are there, and he's just missed them.

-------- Original Message --------
From: Thor halvorsen <taliesinsmandolin at tmail.com>
To:   Kevin Cole <kjcole at gri.gallaudet.edu>

Sure, will try it out. One great feature would be a linux clone of
some of the captioning subtitle programs out there in windows.
Another feature is visual alarms that flash the screen and also a tty
emulator so they can send and receive calls via computer as opposed to
phone bills. Another idea is more webcam drivers and programs for video
chats and conferencing (with excelleration enhancing software?).

That help ? I wll join those groups, and join that meeting dec 7th.

Thor

Kevin Cole wrote:

> I was going to write to you today about something else that you might
> be able to help with, or know someone who can: Ubuntu has an
> Accessibility Team, trying to identify barriers and remove them.  
> Groups like that often concentrate on visually-impaired users and users
> with mobility limitations.  The Deaf community gets left behind because 
> it is assumed that "Computers have lots of text, and deaf people must
> read a lot because they can't hear."  I figure we're in a very unique
> position to help out here, and make a name for ourselves and for 
> Gallaudet.
>
> I've been raising the point that for a large part of the Deaf 
> community, the barrier is language itself, and that Ubuntu -- especially
> Edubuntu, needs to focus on educational and language barriers.  But I also
> said, "We're a mostly a bunch of sighted, hearing, mostly English-fluent,
> mostly male, guys. What the heck do WE really know?  We need to recruit
> testers who we're trying to solve problems for."
>
> So, I'm looking for deaf testers, who understand the language and 
> education barriers, but who can write well enough to provide feedback
> that developers can understand.  I think the ideal candidates would be
> Deaf Ed majors who are interested in technology, or Computer Science
> majors interested in teaching deaf students.  You're not exactly either
> one of those, but are damned close to the mark.
>
> So, two things, if you have time:  Have a look at the Accessibility 
> Team and Special Needs wiki pages:
>
>     https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AccessibilityTeam
>     https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SpecialNeeds
>
> And if you have time next week, TRY to come to the Accessibility 
> Meeting on IRC, and if you know other IRC'ers who might be interested,
> bring  them. The meetings are every two weeks. The next meeting will
> be:
>
> WHEN:  Wednesday, December 7, 2005 at 09:30
> WHERE: Server:  irc.freenode.net
>        Channel: #ubuntu-meeting
>
> The meetings run for approximately one hour, but they can go a little
> over that.  (People do leave early, but if you come, try to stay for
> as much as possible.)

-- 
 Kevin Cole                    |  Key ID: 0xE6F332C7
 Gallaudet University          |     WWW: http://gri.gallaudet.edu/~kjcole/
 Hall Memorial Bldg  S-419     |   V/TTY: (202) 651-5135
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 "Using vi is not a sin. It's a penance." -- St. IGNUcious, Church of Emacs
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