Comments on: What it Takes for Open Source Communities to Work: Participation http://blog.carrolltech.org/archives/70 A Carroll Tech blog about Accessibility Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:15:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Ron Graham http://blog.carrolltech.org/archives/70#comment-126 Ron Graham Tue, 31 Oct 2006 16:17:23 +0000 http://blog.carrolltech.org/archives/70#comment-126 In addition to what Jerry said, I think part of the reason more assistive technology users are not participating is that they do not know about Orca. To stem that lack of knowledge, all we can do is spread the word. I've done that on my <a href="http://accessability.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">AccessAbility</a> blog. For those who do know about Orca, I'd venture that most do not feel tech savvy enough to try running a program they are not familiar with. They feel comfortable in the domain in which they have been trained, be it JAWS, Window Eyes, or whatever, they are trained on this and it works for them. I don't think there is an incentive for them to try something new which is unknown and very foreign. In addition to what Jerry said, I think part of the reason more assistive technology users are not participating is that they do not know about Orca. To stem that lack of knowledge, all we can do is spread the word. I’ve done that on my
AccessAbility
blog.

For those who do know about Orca, I’d venture that most do not feel tech savvy enough to try running a program they are not familiar with. They feel comfortable in the domain in which they have been trained, be it JAWS, Window Eyes, or whatever, they are trained on this and it works for them. I don’t think there is an incentive for them to try something new which is unknown and very foreign.

]]> By: jerry.berrier http://blog.carrolltech.org/archives/70#comment-125 jerry.berrier Sat, 28 Oct 2006 09:08:03 +0000 http://blog.carrolltech.org/archives/70#comment-125 I can only speak for myself here. Years ago I jumped at any opportunity to try something new. I was hungry for access to information, and I felt driven to learn to use whatever was out there that would work with my Radioshack 286 PC and Echo GP. (Ah, what a voice that thing had, Ugh), but it worked, and that was all that mattered. Now I have JAWS, and it is truly wonderful. I no longer feel that pioneer spirit, that drive to experiment. By the time I check my e-mail, do some online shopping, check my account for possible overdrafts, do a few Google searches, tweak my personal website a bit, check out my favorite blogs, listen to a podcast or two, and spell-check a document I've been working on, I just don't have much drive left. Maybe it's time for me to get out my old junk computer and Dectalk Express and start from scratch with ORCA. It's one of those things I've been meaning to do for a long time, but I just haven't gotten around to it. I can only speak for myself here. Years ago I jumped at any opportunity to try something new. I was hungry for access to information, and I felt driven to learn to use whatever was out there that would work with my Radioshack 286 PC and Echo GP. (Ah, what a voice that thing had, Ugh), but it worked, and that was all that mattered.

Now I have JAWS, and it is truly wonderful. I no longer feel that pioneer spirit, that drive to experiment.
By the time I check my e-mail, do some online shopping, check my account for possible overdrafts, do a few Google searches, tweak my personal website a bit, check out my favorite blogs, listen to a podcast or two, and spell-check a document I’ve been working on, I just don’t have much drive left.
Maybe it’s time for me to get out my old junk computer and Dectalk Express and start from scratch with ORCA. It’s one of those things I’ve been meaning to do for a long time, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.

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