Consider Accessibility

摘要

Is Linux accessible? In other words, how well does B Linux work for persons with disabilities? The answer B today depends, in great degree, on which disability B we're talking about. However, several factors have begun driving Linux to become a friendlier environment for users who are persons with disabilities. Perhaps the most fundamental factor spurring Linux toward a more cohesive response to the accessibility challenge is the Linux ethos itself. The communitarian values that undergird free and open-source software simply cannot tolerate the notion that Linux should exclude anyone. Doesn't everyone have the right to run the program? Isn't everyone free to study and improve the source? It goes against the grain to leave anyone out simply because they can't read text on a video display or press both the meta key and F1 simultaneously. Linux always has valued and encouraged active participation from its community of users. We pride ourselves that quality contributions, whether code or documentation, float to the top and become incorporated in the next release. And, indeed, much in Linux exemplifies accessibility. Unfortunately, it is generally incidental accessibility―a by-product of the fact that Linux is deeply rooted in ASCII on the one hand, and on Linux's stellar ability to accept input from most any kind of device on the other. Not that developers intentionally would exclude support for accessibility―it just hasn't been a design criterion in the code review process.