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Originally Posted by JSanders
If you or pumpkin or anyone wants to start a specific thread and update it with experiences, tips, applications, etc., for HOH users, please do.
I'll personally make sure it gets Stickied in an appropriate forum.
I'm not sold on having a specific forum for the HOH, or for any other subgroup of users based on similar abilities.
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RIM is pretty much sold on users' experience of those with certain accessibility issues they may have otherwise we would not see what's in page 2 of the Blackberry Java Application Accessibility guide signaling a change in RIM'S philosophy on accessibility use of BBs. docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/11936/JDE_5.0_AccessibilityGuide_Beta.pdf
When you design your BlackBerry device application, consider the following users:
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• blind people
• visually impaired people
• colorblind people
• deaf people
• hearing impaired people
• speech impaired people
• people with motor impairments
• people with cognitive or learning disabilities
Like any other group of users, people with disabilities or impairments have needs, wants, and expectations about the behavior of applications. Some of the reasons to make your applications accessible to as many users as possible include the following possible benefits:
• Social responsibility: Making it easier for people with disabilities or impairments to benefit from the functionality that your application provides can promote equality and is the right thing to do.
• Market share: Ensuring that your application can be used by people with disabilities or impairments increases the number of people who can purchase and benefit from your application.
• Compliance: Addressing the applicable guidelines and regulatory requirements (such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in the United States) that dictate that your application must be accessible by people with disabilities or impairments can allow you to enter certain markets.
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It's not about "similar abilities" but about ordinary people who must operate in an environment differently than others who take their own environment for granted. It's good to see RIM's changing attitude and philosophy regarding accessibility issues. This is not about creating a subforum just for "deaf people" since it is common that deaf people have multiple conditions or "handicaps" such as deaf and blind, mobility impaired, visually impaired with learning impairments and so on, but a subforum for people who would like to share similar experiences regarding their BBs, or those who would like see something come out of RIM for their BBs that would address certain accessibility needs. Creating such a subforum would also allow people to quickly find their area of interest and submit their questions or experiences rather than do a search every time just to find a discussion thread.