Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (04/25/91)
Index Number: 15190
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
It seems to me that one way to reduce the problem of "having to know the
application inside-out in order to configure it" is for a screen reader to
include features that make it easy for the user to explore the layout of an
application's screen. I'd like to think that I've put some such features in
Tinytalk, but I'm sure there are more that can be thought of. Anybody got any
suggestions?
One consideration is that some of these features can take up extra memory.
Ideally, the more memory-intensive exploration features could be put into an
"add-on" module that you would load only when you needed to explore a new
application.
I do agree that some configuration features should be automated (as long as
the user can change the automatically-determined settings if he so desires).
For example, applications tend to pop up lightbar windows all over the place
(and not always in the same location each time) so a facility to automatically
locate them makes sense. Similarly, a speech program should be able to make
an intelligent guess as to what attribute in a lightbar window really
represents the lightbar (many such windows have four or five different
attributes going, and you can't always apply a simple rule like "the
background color isn't black"). The new (as yet unreleased, but coming soon)
version of Tinytalk does a fairly good job of this.
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Internet: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.orgDavid.Andrews@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (David Andrews) (05/04/91)
Index Number: 15368
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
EB> It seems to me that one way to reduce the problem of "having to
EB> know the application inside-out in order to configure it" is
EB> for a screen reader to include features that make it easy for
EB> the user to explore the layout of an application's screen. I'd
EB> like to think that I've put some such features in Tinytalk, but
EB> I'm sure there are more that can be thought of. Anybody got
EB> any suggestions?
EB> One consideration is that some of these features can take up
EB> extra memory. Ideally, the more memory-intensive exploration
EB> features could be put into an "add-on" module that you would
EB> load only when you needed to explore a new application.
EB> I do agree that some configuration features should be automated
EB> (as long as the user can change the automatically-determined
EB> settings if he so desires).
Eric, As usual you make some good points. As you know, there has been much
discussion of late about automatic programs using so-called artifical
intelligence techniques, versus configurable programs. At this point, it does
seem to be basically one way or the other, but as programs develop, I am sure
that will change. Automatic things can help with new things, but configurations
can fine-tune response etc. One thing I have noticed while using ASAP is that
with complex screens in particular, I don't always know what it is doing or why.
It can be somewhat more unpredictable then a more basic program. You can miss
things and not know it. It also tends to be too chatty with some programs.
AI is an interesting development, and time will tell.
... David Andrews
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