draft for Friends of GNOME campaign

[Eric Oyen]

thanks for the suggestion of some input.

I won't make this a testimonyl as there are still problems with gnome 3.

the older gnome 2.x works well with orca and that is still used in vinuxproject.org. any attempt for me to use gnome 3 has resulted in inconsistent results (with the end result that some of the screen elements are invisible to me). 

as of this writing, I am using vinux 3.01 (based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS) as that is the most reliable (stable) version. making such radical changes to gnome without considering that may break accessibility was a poor move on the part of the gnome project devs.  I know that there is a new project called unity desktop (that is supposed to look a lot like the OS X cocoa interface), but it is so new that it doesn't entirely work with orca (which I depend on totally as I am totally blind). 

anyway, all that being said, I still would prefer using either OS X (apple with voiceover) or ORCA (in vinux) more than I would any version of windows (I still use that on occasion with NVDA). unfortunately, I don't have the income necessary to upgrade my hardware to some windows 7 compliance nor would I have any spare income for the $1,000+ pricetag for windows accessibility (first year SMA + initial cost of JAWS for $850).

up until this last year, I was able to function as a system administrator with low vision. 15 months ago I finally lost all eyesight and have had to request VR services in order to get retrained to better operate in an IT environment. so far, I am still waiting for the state of Arizona to get on with it.

-eric

On Dec 7, 2011, at 10:34 PM, Robert Cole wrote:

> Hello, Michael, all.
> 
> As concerning this topic, it was suggested to me on the gnome-accessibility mailing list that a Testimonials page would be beneficial in allowing users to share their stories about how assistive technologies such as Orca as well as other applications have improved their lives and have made them more productive in a Linux environment as a way to promote open source technologies and free desktops.
> 
> I have begun to develop a testimonials page [1], and I would also like to request the aid of other users in providing (freely) their experiences with these technologies.
> 
> I want to add that I am not a paid professional of any sort. I am simply a visually impaired user who wants to see accessibility-related technologies flourish in an open source environment. I was a Windows user until 2007 when I completely switched to Linux. I could not afford the prices of commercially available assistive technologies, nor could I afford to pay for upgrades for these technologies. I was running an updated Windows system with old and outdated assistive technology software, which made things difficult. I, to this day, still am having difficulty with finding work due to my visual disability, but I use my computer system to learn new skills and to keep myself informed (as I am a Computer Information Systems student, due to graduate after this semester). I can honestly say that I would have not been able to come this far if not for open source technologies. Though I am sure that someone could probably do a much better job on the page listed in the footnote of this message, this is (as best as I am able to do it) my small contribution to the big picture.
> 
> If anyone has a brief story or testimonial which you would like added to the page, please feel free to write to me off-list (or on-list if it is alright to do so). It was suggested that users provide a picture of themselves along with their testimonials, but this is not absolutely mandatory.
> 
> Orca and screen magnification are absolutely vital to me as a blind user. Without these technologies available, I would be at a tremendous loss, and I definitely would not be able to pursue a career in the field which I love so much--computer science/IT.
> 
> Thanks for any input, and thanks for posting this here, Michael.
> 
> [1] Accessibility Testimonials: http://live.gnome.org/Accessibility/Testimonials
> 
> On 12/07/2011 04:13 PM, Michael Hall wrote:
>> Forwarding this on to the Ubuntu accessibility team, and they might have
>> some good real-life stories to share as well.
>> 
>> Michael Hall
>> mhall119 at ubuntu.com
>> 
>> 
>> On 12/06/2011 12:50 PM, Stormy Peters wrote:
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 12:22 PM, Dave Neary<dneary at gnome.org
>>> <mailto:dneary at gnome.org>>  wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>     Do we have some examples of GNOME users whose lives were made
>>>     measurably better because of the a11y work we've done? Show-cases
>>>     work wonders.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I agree with Dave that a quote or a case study would make it more real.
>>> People are much more willing to donate to save a particular kid ("Joey")
>>> who is sick than they are to donate to an organization that helps
>>> vaccinate 1000s of kids.
>>> 
>>> Also, I think we should end with a call to action. What do we want them
>>> to do? ex: "Donate $25 now and help us reach another person."
>>> 
>>> Stormy
>>> 
>>> 
> 
> 
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