[gui-talk] Commercial IT Blindness Accessibility Issues
Louis Maher
ljmaher at swbell.net
Sat Jun 14 01:07:49 UTC 2014
Thank you Allen.
Regards
Louis Maher
Phone 713-444-7838
E-mail ljmaher at swbell.net
-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Hoffman,
Allen via gui-talk
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2014 5:54 AM
To: Louis Maher; Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk
Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Commercial IT Blindness Accessibility Issues
All:
Access to graphical user interfaces is not the technical challenge it once
was. Attention to detail when including accessibility within graphical user
interfaces is the challenge now. We know how to build accessibility in, but
it's a culture change for the IT industry as a whole to do it consistently,
or at all. The bigger challenge in my mind is that many developer functions
are designed to be very visual in nature, and, to be frank, visual design
for graphical interfaces has taken on a much larger role than it used to for
the old text-based interfaces.
I believe there is room for blind programmers, but focus on database
administration, business logic coding, transaction processing, might be well
worth it for some folks. I know people are able to develop applications for
mobile devices using very graphical development environments like the
Android developer kit, and the Apple Xcode package. I know people can
develop Microsoft .net applications using visual Studio. It is a learning
curve, but frankly, the days of easy report generation programming as a
living for the most part are over. OK those of you still doing that don't
have a fit I did it too, but old COBOL report generating is going away
slowly but surely in lieu of more visual interface driven user interface
development environments to do the same work in a more interactive way.
Pre-boot encryption is an annoying problem and is not limited to Microsoft's
solution. I'd have to rate it a low priority on my radar, since as you
mention you can reboot to get password right, and I think over time more
pressure for better solutions will drive this problem in to submission.
A bigger challenge here for many is the use of remote virtuals. Remote
virtuals don't always support use of screen readers easily, and when they do
it imposes a greater level of complexity for all involved in the support
process than simply getting approval for one product on one workstation.
Finally, the never ending variety of development tool chains can be
continuously problematic for folks--who have to use them. When one lacks
even annoyingly difficult accessibility, it can really stop folks in their
tracks. When evaluating accessibility of such environments end to end
access has to be looked at--but is a difficult challenge for evaluators to
figure out since they are not generally developers, but are evaluating
components individually. At the end of the day, however, if the chain is
broken, you might not be able to use the development environment at all.
Hope that helps.
We have gotten better over the years, but the stuff we got good at was
replaced, so we are starting over with far more complex systems to nail
down. We have way more products to handle now than in the past, which just
creates more need for enforcement of accessibility standards.
As we move to mobile I see it happening for a third time around, and today
we are really immature at validating accessibility of mobile products due to
lack of reliable relationship of coding to screen reader rendering, and lack
of on device testing tools to resolve this gap. Not only are we immature in
this arena, but the number of apps is greater than ever before. Nice thing
is generally each app is a bit less bulky than, say, Microsoft Office suite,
but still all take a lot of work to evaluate and work with developers to
remediate when accessibility gaps are found.
Learning how to do graphical desing independently is a critical skill for
today's blind coders, but won't be taught in college courses. You'll have
to seek out what worked for others yourself, and learn by trial and error.
-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Louis Maher
via gui-talk
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2014 5:02 AM
To: 'Ray Foret Jr'; 'Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk
Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Commercial IT Blindness Accessibility Issues
Hi Ray,
To a certain extent it has always been bleak. When I started, around 1968,
there were no accessible manuals, except those on tape, and you had to deal
with punch cards, and occasionally paper tape, and toggle switches with
lights for booting and examining address registers (IBN 1800) (sighted
helpers). Many things are much better now. I edit my code, using Visual
Studio through Samba linked to Linux text files. I do want to get to Orca,
if I can figure out a means for doing so. The remote graphics servers can
send sound along with images, and we should be able to do something with
that.
In general, over the decades, things are improving.
Regards
Louis Maher
Phone 713-444-7838
E-mail ljmaher at swbell.net
-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ray Foret
Jr via gui-talk
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 8:28 PM
To: Louis Maher; Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk
Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Commercial IT Blindness Accessibility Issues
To speak frankly, Louis, I get the very strong and disturbing impression
that would be blind professional computer programmers and or administraters
are being shut out of the profession because sighted programmers don't
either know or care about our accessibility needs. Would I be correct in
getting that impression? I should like, for my part, to know the points of
view of other blind programmers.
Seems rather bleek to me.
The problem I have with this item is that it presents a problem without
offering much in the way of a solution. Otherwise, quite thought provoking.
Sent from my mac, the only computer with full accessibility for the blind
built-in!
Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray, still a very happy Mac and Iphone 5 user!
On Jun 12, 2014, at 8:08 PM, Louis Maher via gui-talk <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I have attached a four page paper which I would like to submit to the
> Braille Monitor. I have also pasted the note below my signature.
> Please let me know about any errors. Thanks.
> --
> Title: Commercial IT Blindness Accessibility Issues
> Author: Louis Maher (ljmaher at swbell.net, 713-444-7838)
> Date: June 12, 2014
>
> In a modern commercial environment, several blindness-related
> accessibility issues remain. Generally these issues can be grouped
> into lack of access
> to: graphical user interfaces (GUIs), graphically displayed data, and
> mathematically-based books and journals. I will focus primarily on
> the effects of not being able to access GUIs.
>
> Bit Locker Encryption
>
> In Microsoft Windows seven, Bit locker encryption is a Microsoft
> system for encrypting all the information on a computer's hard disk.
> At power-up time, the user enters a personal identification number
> (PIN) and then the login proceeds. The PIN dialog screen is
> completely inaccessible. While my HumanWare Brailliant Braille
> display will beep when the pin dialog opens, if I make a mistake
> entering the pin, then I cannot recover from this error. I must
> power-off
my machine, by holding down the power button, and try again.
> Often when a machine is abnormally stopped, it goes into a memory scan
> screen or setup screen. All these pre-login screens are inaccessible,
> even to Microsoft narrator. For this reason, a blind user cannot turn
> on their own machine if they make a Bit Locker PIN entry error. The
> only way out is to go find a sighted colleague who can enable the
> blind employee to login into their own computer.
>
> The Linux Graphical User Interface (GUI)
>
> Linux allows for computers, built out of many processors, to solve
> large problems. For this reason, most of the hard science problems
> are addressed using the Linux operating system. A commercially
> popular version of Linux is distributed by Red Hat
> (http://www.redhat.com/). Currently my company uses Red Hat version
> 5.7. Due to the need for an operating system to work well with all
> the company's applications, and the need for a company to have a
> stable operating system, operating systems, within a company, change
> slowly. An employee's desire to use company software, insures that
> the employee must use the company's operating system. For this
> reason,
the blind employee cannot choose which operating system they wish to use.
>
> Graphical user interfaces allow users to use a wide variety of
> applications with ease. The GUI allows most of the parameters in an
> application to use defaults. Only a few parameters within an
> application need be set. Also context sensitive help allows the user
> to rapidly find out how to set those parameters. GUIs also allow a
> user to string many processes together into a dataflow so that complex
> tasks can be setup rapidly. For these reasons, the GUI has conquered
computer space.
>
> Character-based (also called command-line) interfaces are widely used
> for computer programming and system administration, and have provided
> many blind individuals with excellent career opportunities. While the
> character-based interface for Linux is wonderfully accessible, the
> Linux GUI is not. Based upon work by the now-bankrupt Sun
> Corporation, the Orca Linux screen reader is available in open source
> packages (https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/). Orca is not
> automatically distributed with commercially popular Linux systems, and
> employees must go through a long risk-assessment process to have it
> added
to their systems.
> Orca also accesses the Gnome desktop (http://www.gnome.org/)while most
> commercial organizations would prefer to use the KDE interface
> (http://www.kde.org/). Also since there is no commercial organization
> caring for Orca, there is no guarantee that it will work for any one
> application. People who work on Orca development, due it out of love
> of computer science, and as an effort to improve the world. The
> developers work on what interests them, and on what they can find time
> to
accomplish.
> Also, Orca can only give access to programs running on the user's machine.
> It does not allow users to logon to other remote machines using GUIs.
>
> The Linux Graphical User Interface (GUI) Remote Access Issue
>
> Linux GUI remote access represents another class of accessibility
problems.
> As mentioned above, Orca can only give access to programs running on
> the user's machine. It does not allow users to logon to other
> machines using GUIs. In modern industrial settings, the blind user
> will be sitting in front of a Microsoft Windows based machine. The
> user can have complete character-based access to Linux through
> programs such as SecureCRT
> (http://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/). However, the blind user
> is going to have to access several remote computers, using graphical
> user interfaces, to get their work done. While limited
> character-based work around exist for some of these applications, in
> general, the blind user will have to have their sighted counterparts
> do
this part of their job, thus reducing the flexibility of the blind employee.
>
> Java
>
> Java (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/index.html) is a
> programming language, supported by Oracle, to make applications
> portable on more than one operating system. The blind access Java
> applications through the Java Access Bridge (JAB) (for Windows
> (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/tech/index-jsp-136191.h
> tml),
> and for Linux
> (http://linux.softpedia.com/progDownload/Java-Access-Bridge-Download-2
> 4104.h tml). I have found that most Java programs are not very
> accessible due to the developer's unawareness of the need to write
> accessible code.
>
> Graphically Displayed Data
>
> Often commercial Linux packages generate plots to help the user
> analyze the data in their processes. These plots are generated by
> GUI's buried deep in the commercial packages. If the plots could be
> generated, and sent outside of the commercial application which
> generated them, then they could be sent to Braille printers for
> plotting. Without GUI access, the blind user cannot generate the
> plots,
nor bring the plots to the outside world.
>
> Mathematically Displayed Books and Journals
>
> The news is a little better on the display of mathematically-based
material.
> If the blind user can contact the author of a book, and if the author
> is willing to share their source files, then the blind user can read
> the
book.
> The best way to get this book would be in Microsoft Word format where
> the author would have used the Design Science mathematical equation
> editor, MathType (http://www.dessci.com/en/), to write the equations.
> MathType makes mathematics in Microsoft word completely accessible.
> Another accessible mathematical language is Latex
> (http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~dwilkins/LaTeXPrimer/).
>
> Mathematics on the web is still not reliable since bugs in the
> Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 10 and 11 have kept math from
> being displayed. I have heard that the Apple Safari browser can
> display math, but an accessible version of the Safari browser is not
available for the Windows platform.
>
> GUI Solution Issues
>
> It is unclear how to approach the Linux GUI issue. If a blind user
> wishes to install Orca on a Linux workstation, the user will have
> several
issues.
> 1. The blind individual will have to have a sighted individual install
> the software because the Linux GUI environment is inaccessible out of
> the
box.
> Secondly, to be efficient, the blind user will need a Braille display.
> Braille drivers are not part of the standard Orca package, and
> separate software must be loaded for Braille displays. Thirdly, only
> system administrators will be allowed to load software on company
computers.
> Lastly, bringing new programs into the environment requires risk
> assessments which can add months to introducing new software.
>
> I am fortunate in that my company will purchase any accessibility
> system that exists; however experimenting with unknown solutions is
> very tedious and slow. Due to the size of commercial organizations,
> it can take up to two years to upgrade the operating systems of
> computers. Also, if a blind user installs Orca on one machine, the
> user has not achieved much, for the user cannot access other remote
> GUI-based processors, which contain the programs an employee will
> need. Lastly, stand-alone work stations are rapidly disappearing from
> our commercial environment. Our company is experimenting with remote
> graphic servers (RGS)
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Graphics_Software) which are
> centrally-located graphics servers which are used remotely by
> windows-based users. Perhaps remote GUI accessibility can be built
> into
such systems.
>
> Conclusions
>
> Both government and non-government blind employees are struggling with
> accessibility because currently no one is insisting that these systems
> be accessible. If the government would follow its own rules, then the
> accessible solutions would be available to all.
>
> --
>
>
>
> Regards
> Louis Maher
> Phone 713-444-7838
> E-mail ljmaher at swbell.net
> ---
>
> <Commercial IT Blindness Accessibility Issues
> (0).docx>_______________________________________________
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