ubuntu-desktop's dependency on gnome-orca

[Henrik Nilsen Omma]

Alex Jones wrote:
> I noticed today that gnome-orca was included as a dependency of
> ubuntu-desktop, and I think this is a bad thing.

This point comes up from time to time and I'm sure it will continue to 
do so.

The 'problems' with including a11y tools by default are:

* CD space / Bandwidth -- Bandwidth is not an issue because the ISOs 
will basically always be the same size as we try to fit as much useful 
stuff as possible on the CD. The discussion of what is useful is of 
course complex.

* Menu clutter -- By default applications like gnopernicus, orca and gok 
create a menu entry for themselves under Applications -> Accessibility. 
When we added some access tools to the desktop for dapper these items 
appeared in the menu, but we decided that they added too much clutter to 
our very clean menus for what is currently a small group of users, and 
they can be started in other ways. For Edgy I would like to move the 
access tools over to the System -> Preferences menu, like this: 
http://people.ubuntu.com/~henrik/images/access-sub-menu.png


However, there are benefits as well:

* The key thing to understand is that computers are much more difficult 
to use for the user groups we are here talking about. Without the access 
tools easily available it can be directly impossible, making it in turn 
impossible to install or activate them. A catch 22.

* If computers in public places like schools and libraries have the 
packages installed they can be used by those who need them without 
needing admin privileges.

* By installing these tools by default we subject them to wider testing 
so that they will improve (which they need). As more current Ubuntu 
users become aware of these tools word of their existence will reach 
those who need them who will then want to try Ubuntu.


An ubuntu-a11y package is not very useful because there is a wide range 
of use cases here that don't require the same tools. Someone who needs a 
screen reader would generally never need and on-screen keyboard and vice 
versa. And again, how do you install the package if you cannot actually 
use the computer. The Live CD provides some functionality, but we must 
also consider pre-installed system and public computers. Not everyone 
will be using live CDs. We should aim to make a many areas of the 
platform as accessible to as many people as possible, not create 
segregated paths that certain groups must follow.


Your point is basically that this is only useful for a small group of 
users. I don't think counting the actual number of users in any 
particular group and using that as a hard cut-off criteria for whether 
support should be provided for them is very useful because it leads you 
down a slippery slope where you eventually end up excluding some small 
groups of users with rare conditions that may be few in numbers but may 
at the same time be completely dependent on assistive technology to 
communicate with others. Excluding these groups based on numbers would 
not be  'Linux for human beings' IMO.

If you really want to talk numbers you can start by looking at a US 
census report from 2002 that suggest that 11.5% of Americans have some 
form of 'severe' disability.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/sipp/disab02/ds02ta.html

Even if you only consider visual impairment, which is what Orca is for, 
the figure is over 3%, still way more than the number of Linux users. 
Many of these users (if they have computers) would like to switch away 
from Windows because it is too expensive.

What is true, is that a very small number of the current ubuntu users 
have 'severe' disabilities. This is in part because of the somewhat 
skewed general demographics among our current users. It is also because 
the provision of assistive technology on Linux has so far been poor. The 
tools have simply not been good enough to compete with the proprietary 
counterparts. As a result, disabled people have stuck with what works on 
Windows and Mac, and have paid large sums for the privilege.

Please read this forum posting by a person who is working hard to get 
the access tools working for him on Ubuntu so that he can switch away 
from Widows before his current update license for ZoomText runs out so 
he can avoid paying $200 to renew it: 
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=236401&page=2

Sorry for the long speech. These issues are complex and I do not expect 
people who have not worked in this field or knows someone who needs such 
tools to have though about it at length, so the detailed background may 
be useful. The Ubuntu development team seems to have taken this line of 
thinking on board though and are already doing great work in this area. 
Thanks, you guys rock!

For a more general introduction to accessibility issues in computing 
please read:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Accessibility/background

- Henrik