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In #Linux, #opensource, #foss communities is #accessibility considered a priority?

It's not a rhetorical or ironic question. I ask this because in the past I have struggled to find #speechtotext apps on Linux while on #macos it is pre-installed.

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in reply to Andrea Callegaro

Accessibility was not historically a priority in #Linux development. I suspect few developers had the necessary skills or interest.

Major players in Linux are declaring their commitment to accessibility. Those assertions need to be followed by commitments of funds and resources.

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in reply to Corb_The_Lesser

@Corb_The_Lesser @dieguitux8623 @alaudet

it's a pity, because if it is true that about 15% of the world's population has some kind of #disability, this means that #Linux is losing a good chunk of the market

Things like voice and eye control, pointer control, voiceover... are one-click enabled from my macbook

in reply to Andrea Callegaro

@dieguitux8623 @alaudet I think if it happens in Linux it's going to be a mix of enabling additions to the kernel and user tools in a specific desktop environment. Gnome seems to me the most likely if third-party funding is available and tied to accessibility work.

It's probably more complicated in Linux because of its lack of influence over hardware design.

in reply to Andrea Callegaro

I have run into this with someone who had vision issues, for who Linux would have been a good fit for their needs. Unfortunately when testing it did not match Windows 11 in this regard. I havent tried in a couple of years, so maybe my thinking is out of date.
in reply to Andrea Callegaro

@Andrea Callegaro I maintain some very small open source projects of mobile apps and, if you want them to be accepted in stores, you must follow a11y guidelines, there is no opt-out. Minor issue can be tolerated but each update (which requires a new review) may result in a rejection. Probably on Linux/desktop, where there is no central control, the situation is different.

Hovewer, I found the community to be very supportive on this topic and people contributed and helped me to fix accessibility issues.

in reply to Andrea Callegaro

Hi, here #opensource (#FreeBSD not #Linux). #Accessibility should be a priority. You are right, we are "late" compared to commercial Operating Systems but we are trying to improve. Some recent projects in WIP:

* docs.google.com/presentation/d…
* alfonsosiciliano.gitlab.io/pos…
* freebsdfoundation.org/project/…
* github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc…
* alfonsosiciliano.gitlab.io/pos…

Of course most of the features will be in the base of the operating system (no installation required)