[u-a-dev] Removed Feature Impairs Accessibility

[Kenny Hitt]

Hi.  You will probably get more responce if you post to the main stream ubuntu developer discuss list.
I believe Luke is the only Ubuntu developer who is subscribed to this list.
He's 1 man against the rest when it comes to accessibility in Ubuntu.
I think the list address for the one you want is:

ubuntu-devel-discuss at lists.ubuntu.com

          Kenny

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 09:50:46PM -0400, Michael Haney wrote:
> There is an issue with Ubuntu that started in version 7.10 and
> persists all the way to 10.04.  In previous versions before 7.10 users
> were able to change the make and model of their monitors from the
> Hardware tab in the screen resolution window in the System =>
> Preferences.window.  This was removed in 7.10 and all later versions
> of Ubuntu.  The removal of this feature has had undesirable
> consequences which need to be addressed immediately.
> 
> It was decided to let X.org auto-detect video hardware starting with
> Ubuntu 7.10.  Unfortunately, the auto-detection procedure does not
> always work correctly.  Some monitors are not Plug & Play, which is
> needed for this to work properly.  The resulting problem that occurs
> is one which I have had and struggled with for some time, which
> eventually forced me to make a switch to different Linux distribution
> just to correct the issue.  Getting Ubuntu to detect the correct video
> card and getting the video card to work is not the problem.  Detection
> of the monitor hardware and no longer being able to manually change
> those settings is what is the problem.
> 
> After Ubuntu is installed, X.org detects the monitor as just "default
> monitor".  The maximum available screen resolution is 800x600.  Being
> visually impaired I'm dependent on the Enhanced Desktop Zoom feature
> of Compiz Fusion, which requires that I install the drivers for my
> Nvidia graphics card.  After these drivers are installed my maximum
> screen resolution is 640x480.  Ubuntu is unusable at that resolution
> because many windows do not scale nor do they let you scroll down to
> portions which are hidden off screen.  This is a problem that is
> impacting many users.
> 
> Prior to Ubuntu 10.04 I have been copying & pasting the monitor
> settings from the xorg.conf generated by 7.04 into the xorg.conf files
> of each new release.  This has been a workaround, but it invariably
> breaks something in the process.  The Nvidia X Server Configuration
> Tool for instance cannot save settings to xorg.conf anymore, is a
> prime example.  Another is the login screen is set to 6040x480 but the
> screen area pans at 1024x786.  When I login the desktop changes
> resolutions to 1024x768 which is large enough to give me a lot of work
> space but not too small for me to read.  This is particularly helpful
> with web pages, which are usually made for screens at 1024x768.  Plus,
> if something is far too small I have the Enchance Desktop Zoom of
> Compiz Fusion to help.
> 
> Using this copy & paste workaround does not work in Ubuntu 10.04,
> however.  X.org will not start.  In fact the system hangs.  Apparently
> fundamental changes in the format in which information is stored
> and/or read in the xorg.conf file appears to have changed, and now the
> old settings text from my xorg.conf file from version 7.04 no longer
> works.  This has prompted me to switch to Mandria for the time being,
> which allows me to have a Compiz Fusion glx enabled desktop at
> 1024x768.  While Mandriva is indeed a user friendly Linux distribution
> its not nearly as polished as Ubuntu, and also not as many
> applications are available as RPMs are compared to Debian.
> 
> The main problem is the lack of a feature to manually change the
> monitor settings in Ubuntu.  If something similar to the Hardware tab
> were available in a separate window in the System => Administration
> menu then this wouldn't be an issue.  However, there is no easy or
> clear-cut way to correct this problem at this current time unless
> something changes.
> 
> In the spirit of improving Ubuntu's accessibility I believe a
> Preferences window should be made that allows users to manually change
> the monitor type just like we were able to do in Ubuntu 7.04 in the
> Hardware tab of the Screen Resolution window.  This feature should not
> have been removed originally.
> 
> Speaking as a Visually Impaired Linux User this has seriously impaired
> my ability to use Ubuntu.  It is my hope that this message prompts the
> development community to take action and correct this problem as soon
> as possible.
> 
> -- 
> Michael "TheZorch" Haney
> Visually Impaired Linux User
> thezorch at gmail.com
> 
> -- 
> Ubuntu-accessibility-devel mailing list
> Ubuntu-accessibility-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility-devel