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Comment by viraptor | Hacker News Reader

So this is a funny example you brought up, especially in terms of a GUI related project. You know what a system like that should take into account? People with non-standard handedness! For that to happen, you may want diversity in at least your test team, and inclusivity for people with different or limited physical abilities. Because swapping the mouse buttons around or making different keyboard mappings useful and other accessibility features are often pushed by people who have some real life experience with diverse population. For good design, X should explicitly look for various ways people differ and how to include them in ways appropriate to their situation.

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I am not sure that it matters; you can already remap the keyboard and mouse in X windows, and if it helps to design input devices differently for left-handed people, then that would be managed by someone else.

However, if they add the possibility to use touch-screens (although I don't like touch-screens, some people might want to use it), then considering being left-handed vs right-handed might potentially be significant when designing a GUI library or a GUI program, although even then it is not certain that it will.

Still, if something does affect the users in this way (with accessibility, which involves other things too; and accessibility is not only for people with the relevant disabilities, but is for everyone (including people with those disabilities)), then it is true that having people who use those accessibility features (and whatever other features you might add or change, even if they are not accessibility features) in the testing team is helpful, so yes, that is a case. However, it is FOSS and does not necessarily need a dedicated team for testing. They do say anyone who wants to and is able to work on it is allowed to do so, so if someone is concerned with this then hopefully they can help, too.

Nope, I do not want the UI to be tailored to left-handed people, I want it to abide by whatever standards there are so I know where to find whatever element I happen to need. I'll learn how to use the right-handed version because that is what I will be confronted with in this right-handed world. I'm in the minority and I don't expect the world to accommodate me. I'm left-handed and I will use whatever tools I can get my hands on to the fullest of my ability.

Accessibility is a different matter, not related to handedness - being left-handed is not considered to be a handicap. Adding accessibility features does not mean the team needs to include people with whatever handicap those features are tailored to though, they just need to gather enough input from people who need these features so they know what to implement. This does not mean the team should not include someone who happens to be blind (etc.), if that person is willing and able to contribute he's as welcome as anyone else.

> Nope, I do not want the UI to be tailored to left-handed people

> I'm left-handed and I will use whatever tools I can get my hands on to the fullest of my ability.

I'm not sure I can get you to look beyond what you yourself can do, but try to consider these groups: older people who will not learn precise right hand movement anymore, people with temporary or permanent right hand injury, people with no right hand, people with missing right hand fingers, etc.

And consider what do you actually lose from your side if the UI can be tailored to dominant-left-hand usage.

> but try to consider these groups: older people who will not learn precise right hand movement anymore, people with temporary or permanent right hand injury, people with no right hand, people with missing right hand fingers, etc.

Perhaps, but that does not seem to be a software issue, at least, not a software issue with the X window system itself. If you want to consider such things, it is probably more important if someone who is concerned about such things wants to design hardware specifically for such people.

Allowing you as long as you want to type something instead of adding a time limit can be helpful for such people (since having less fingers or only one hand might make it take longer to type) but it can also be helpful for any other people for whatever reason (e.g. you have to answer the telephone before continuing to type on the computer, etc).

Accessibility features are for everyone.

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