unity-design team mailing list archive

["saddharmap@xxxxxxxxx" <saddharmap@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2012-04-16 at 12:24 +0100, Alan Bell wrote:
> feedback on this is that the bindings were removed intentionally because 
> some people got stuck zoomed in and were confused by it. The right way 
> to solve this is by adding stuff to gnome-control-centre so that in the 
> a11y section you can turn on the magnifier bindings. That isn't going to 
> happen in 12.04 at this stage so ccsm is the way to turn it on. Bit of a 
> shame really as desktop magnification is one area where we can really 
> shine over other operating systems if we wanted to.
> 
> Alan.


Dear Alan

Mark Twain - "A Crank Is Someone With A New Idea.... Until It Catches
On" Ubuntu Advertising 10.04.

George Bernard Shaw - " "The reasonable man adapts himself to the
conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding
conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Alan - I sympathise with your view and heroic unreasonable ways -
because of course your comments and ideas would address "Disability
Accessibility" - an issue that has been down graded and in fact removed
from so many areas of Ubuntu 12.04. ... and no-one can explain why! 

Don't it make you Cranky! P^) 

There is an underlying issue which just keeps being Ignored - and that
is someone has decided, either deliberately or unwittingly, to down
grade/remove Basic Disability Accessibility across the whole of Ubuntu
12.04 and it has been sacrificed for "Unity" (Ironic is Not the Word) -
and as it in not an issue or matter that affects them personally, when
it is raised it just gets purged from the buffers.

I fear your suggestions will simply get the Overarching issues buried
deeper and they will not be addressed! 

The use of Virtual staircases that some use to run away from the issues
is unacceptable. 

I get the clear impression that some are Overly Blind to the issues and
even solutions. It's like three blind men and an elephant - They prate
over a trunk, ear and tail ... never grasping the bigger subject! 

"Unity" The Discriminating Desktop is a bad brand identity - even if it
does come with a rather comical and unintentional "double entendre".

AS I made clear in bug report 964685 - 2012-03-25: "Failed disability
accessability standards - 12.04 - Live CD & Installed" there is a
systemic issue with Basic Disability Accessibility being ignored,
downgrade and removed. 

It's disgraceful. 

Then that bug report got re-written to hide so many issues "High
contrast and High contrast inverse themes are poor quality for the Unity
desktop". It does not address the issues and attitudes - just buries
them! It's funny that it was marked as Triaged because you agreed with
the issues and ".. 
based on comments by Allen Bell that the theme will be looked into."

Alan - any progress in getting anyone to look into the issues? P^) 

The only one that seems to be seen as significant is access to being
able to get a high contract cursor - and even resize it! 

Multiple separate bugs filed on the issues have simply been ignored.
Untriaged - Undecided - Unassigned. Such a predictable pattern. 

Of course - here is where so many just Pass on by.... Toodle Loo - and
if you have failed to read below here it is clear that you are involved
in Disability Discrimination and party to it and need to address some
underlying attitudes, prejudice and anti-social conduct that is all your
own! 

It's just Disabled people and accessibility after all - and some are
convinced that there are no Virtual Staircases because they are not
being crippled by them! ... and web pages state such things as:

"The demographics of society and therefore of computer users is also
changing. Not only are a growing number of older people logging on, but
computer use is increasing in parts of the world where literacy rates
are low. Ensuring that computers are accessible for these groups often
also has the added bonus of making them easier to use for everyone.
**Accessibility is cutting edge in software design**."
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Accessibility

Cutting edge? Not when basic accessibility is Cut Out! That is not
assistive technology - that is BASIC Accessibility which some have seen
fit to design out.

It reminds me of the Silliness around Transport and The London Olympics.
Some are very proud that they have supposedly made London Tube Stations
Accessible from Street level to Platform - and yet the fact that so many
disabled people still can't actually get on the Tube Train is seen as a
minor issue that it's unreasonable to raise! One has to wonder - who
benefits? Disabled Tube Train Spotters? 

It's only one step is not the right answer. It is shocking for some to
be told that Disabled people do not have the power of levitation! 

Is there any value in going all that way down in a hole in the ground
only to find that the basic issue of Transport from A to B has been
ignored? 

What does the London Underground and Ubuntu 12.04 have in common? Failed
Disability Accessibility because the people in charge have missed the
issues and ignored the experts! It's Virtual Staircases all over! 

I have made more than the usual efforts in having the Multiplicity Of
Issues and failures in Disability Accessibility in Ubuntu 12.04 dealt
with - Bugs/Fails reported - spoken to Canonical direct (sought dialogue
with Jane Silber CEO and Steven Bianchi - legal - Still waiting for the
call back) - been a good boy and done as I was told (Most
Rudely/Patronisingly by two Canonical employees on "three" occasions,
and as they admitted they lacked the knowledge and expertise to grasp
the issues - and got most upset when their poor grasp of disability
accessibility was pointed out to them - and they were warned that they
were actually getting into rather antisocial patterns and even legally
dangerous territory ... slam down phone - So professional NOT... and one
the PA to the CEO)..... Does not Inspire Confidence! 

Actually did get phoned back - been told to file bugs against specific
packages and then been told by the same person that I have filed the bug
against the wrong package .....etc, etc, etc.... and all that after
having to fight to get them to LOOK at the issues on a computer screen ,
and even then there was great confusion as to which package - applet -
widget on the desktop was the underlying issue - cause - place to have
the bug Triaged.... let alone owned and even ( Heavens Forbid It Could
Just be Possible) resolved! 


It's not even organised Chaos - it's organised, embedded and high
functioning discrimination. Push it away and get it off my desk is the
overarching attitude and practice.  

It would seem that the Issues are so wide and multi-factorial that even
Canonical Employees can't grasp where the bugs start and how they end -
they leapfrog from one package into another and onwards into yet
others. 

Imagine being told the Virtual Staircase is no more - there is a virtual
lift - it gets to to the virtual floor - and then  you can't get to the
virtual office because there are a further three virtual steps .... and
it's unreasonable for the REAL person to point out the Real Fail!
Neither Real World or Virtual levitation is an option! 

The defensiveness and dismissiveness is also a well known and well
trodden road that really has no place in the 21st century. In so many
countries it has been anti-social and even not allowed in law for some
20 years. Hey Ho - it may be that some need some basic training in
Equality and Disability - and that then falls upon the Human Resources
Dept! 

It's wearing exhausting and abusive how some will tell you that you
don't know what you are talking about - and yet after some rather
on-point questioning it is those same people who have to actually admit
that it is they who are ignorant.... and even then they still ignore
matters and fail to take ownership of their own ignorance and errors. 

It's so Social Model Of Disability - it's not the virtual staircases
that get you - it's the mind set, attitudes and conduct of people who
treat Disabled People as Treads on a stair! Some are self assured and
certain in their ways they have o issue treading on you!  

Getting such people to take simple steps such as "Looking" at the issue
so they can see it for themselves is nigh on impossible, and when they
finally stop wasting time and do actually "LOOK" they do tend to get
defensive, dismissive and just want it all to magically vanish!

Such simple questions as:

1) Who is responsible?
2) Who has ownership?
3) Who has oversight?
4) OK - so you don't know what to do! Who do you recommend as the best
person to contact?
5) Sorry - the person named in question 4 is wrong, so who is the best
person to contact with a view to finding out who the best person to
contact is? 

.... not hard questions - but it's easier to pull your own teeth out
with a pair of pliers - with both hands tied behind your back -  than
get a rational answer to any of them! 

I have found it easier to run and bug hunt Fortran written by a 3 year
old in crayon than get valid output from people who are less than deaf
and have a gross incapacity to receive input! 

Am I surprised that bugs going back years have never been addressed -
and are still there?  Nah! Virtual Staircases are like that - and they
tend to just gather dust - Virtual Dust - and there are no Virtual
Cleaners... it's a Real Mess!

Some have a badly designed subroutine for dealing with Failed Disability
Accessibility - and the output is always SEP- "Someone Else's Problem" -
Go AWAY! In fact it seems to be the default output no matter what the
input is! It's not GIGO it's GIDO - Good In, Discrimination Out! 

I have to say that the tag "A11Y" is dangerous, as has been found when
similar re-branding of issues has occurred in other organisations or
projects.

People like being allies - and feel warm and fuzzy! Then when they
discover or have it pointed out that their activity is nothing to do
with "A11Y" they ignore matters - It's "I'm an "A11Y" so I have to be
getting it right - I'm a Nice person and I would never discriminate -
YOU ARE WRONG!" 

AS I have said:

"I see that "a11y" is a tag to raise accessibility and possibly gather
it into one place - but I also get the impression that this Tag is being
used as a comfort blanket by those not affected, to assume the issues do
not affect them and do have a home and are being addressed. The term
Ghetto comes to mind." 

There is a clear lack of self reflection and lack of Unity - and it's
replaced with self justification... and that faulty Subroutine GIDO just
kicks is! 

I have even made clear that Bug 1 "Microsoft has a majority market
share" is not being addressed - because, with the ongoing failure in
System Wide Disability Accessibility and it's removal, Government's -
Corporates - and so many other bodies that are obliged to comply with
Disability Discrimination/Equality laws simply can't use Ubuntu,
recommend anyone else to use it, even give it to another person free due
to the Legal Implications. 

It's called "Risk Management". Hence my interest in speaking to people
with that responsibility - Jane Silber or Steven Bianchi.

It seems that they may have oversight of certain areas, but
unfortunately they either lack interest - or certain employees are not
passing the correct information to the correct people! 
Is that by any chance indicative of the Poor Attitude to Disability
Accessibility?

My views on Bug 1 can be read
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1/comments/1647

So - when is someone connected with Ubuntu with the right oversight and
insight going to address the issues - bugs - implications - failed
Disability Accessibility?

There seems to be a consensus view that Basic Disability Accessibility
(That is not Assistive Technology - don't go there ) is not a matter for
the Bug Tracker, but a wider and more philosophical issue that goes far
deeper than a simple and singular bug!

It's clear that as no-one has oversight - ownership - responsibility,
the issues are just being pushed away. Virtual Staircases abound due to
the bad architecture and architects - and even an unwillingness to look
and see the issues on a Computer Screen! 

The Alpha and Betas of 12.04 are already in breach of Legislation in
many countries - and it seems that 12.04.0 will also do the same!

Being told that the Over arching issues will be raised later and
addressed for 12.10, 13.04, 13.10 and onwards is beyond Unacceptable! 

Maybe Bug 1 needs some attention - because some organisations have been
getting the basics of accessibility right since 1995, and as a core
value they have maintained and improved matters over many iterations as
they don't wish Corporate Embarrassment .... and even pro-actively make
sure that it does not occur. 

It seems that the irony of having to comment on a bug report: "Rick -
would it be possible to have Accessibility in general removed from The
Wishlist? P^)"

... well it seems that even that pointed comment is just too little and
too late!

That Basic Disability Accessibility should even have to feature on a
wishlist is a damning indictment of poor attitude and systemic
discrimination that has taken root across Ubuntu - Canonical.  


So Alan - I praise you for looking at the Big Picture, and even
suggesting how the supposed core group around Unity and Ubuntu 12.04
could be doing it all so much better.

Sorry - but it's clear, "There Are None So Deaf As Will Not Hear!". 

If they had any interest in listening - or even any interest in the
issue of Accessibility - it would have been correct in the Alpha, and
you would not be having to make comment now at 1 second to midnight!  

I have to say, looking at the track record of how such suggestions have
been greeted - ignored - argued away - left to gather dust - and
overwritten by yet more coding that does not address The Issue.... well,
It's clear that when it comes to Basic Disability Accessibility Ubuntu
12.04 is a fail, and the needs of the largest Minority on planet earth
(1 Billion Disabled People - UN Report 2011) are not on the table for
discussion. 

Maybe Mr Shuttelworth needs to be looking at the Systemic fail and
Issues which are not just about accessibility but attitude across the
whole of Ubuntu-Canonical?

Of course, I now await the routine round of dismissive responses and
comments - but then again - as a Disabled Person who has been dealing
with Accessibility, Equality and The laise faire attitudes of others for
over 20 years.... It's a known issue when a Disabled Person highlights
the issues, and the supposed experts get upset when they have the warm
and fuzzy "A11Y" tag brought into question - and they feel overly
defensive because they hate the idea that they may be party to
discrimination .... so the Buffers just get cleared - run GIDO
subroutine - that feels better! 

Hint - If you don't grasp the issues, you ask for input and eduction
from those affected - you don't tell them they are wrong and act to
dismiss matters to clear your in-box or desktop! That behaviour is
itself Discrimination and means the "A11Y" tag and badge is being abused
and acting to Empower Discrimination by default.  

9 days and counting - and so much time wasted already - and all because
It's Disability, and Disabled People are viewed as not having expertise
in areas that they known far too much about - and some people feel
empowered to dismiss and even harass those who seek contact with the
relevant people with a view to resolution! 

Any takers? Jane Silber seems disinterested - Mr Bianci ditto -
Canonical employees have been less than polite and self assured in the
face of being told they are actually committing harassment when telling
the Disabled Person that they know more about the issues   - and even
input from some has only shown how the issues are far bigger than just
one line of code or even one package - The Accessibility team are not
responsible and poor "Charlie Kravatz" is not the person responsible
either ( even if some at Canonical head office London  demand that he
has to be seen as such)  ..... so who is? 

SEP - "Someone Else's Problem" rules as the management paradigm. 

My phone number is on file with Canonical London for anyone who needs to
have a chat and be Walked through the issues - and who can and will take
ownership. Well it was on file - and I do have to hope that some
employees haven't just throw it away in the hope that doing so will make
issues vanish? 

All the best Alan - and forgive me If I'm Busy - I am having to work to
strategically move a large number of people to Suse and KDE over the
next 12 months. It may even be that the Dreaded Bug 1 will have to be
embraced and made a none BUG - but then again, some software providers
listen and respond when Disability Accessibility Issues are raised - and
they even get addressed at Alpha! It's a Root access issue for them -
and not a wishlist to be ignored. 

Oh - and they also make sure that in dealing with issues they don't tell
The Experts that they are anything less than Expert, and they never push
people down Virtual Staircases for convenience in the hope that issues
will just go away.

TTFN

Crippled User.