Re: LYNX-DEV: blind users & difficult-lynx

[Laura Eaves]

> From: BLINUX Documentation Project <address@hidden>
> ...
> >> DEFAULT_BOOKMARK_FILE:lynx_bookmarks.html
> >Why not .lynx_bookmarks.html?  Was there a reason to remove the '.'?
> i didn't--the september 3 1996 version doesn't have a period before the
> 'l' in 'lynx_bookmarks.html' and there was no mention of any such period
> in the lynx2-6FM/lynx.cfg either...

Hm.  It was generated that way in my .lynxrc when I first ran lynx 2.5.
Someone must have changed it for 2.6...  I wonder why...  I prefer the '.'
as that hides the file.

> >> #INFOSECS:1
> >> #MESSAGESECS:2
> >> #ALERTSECS:3
> >I often have to repeat a failed command several times to be able to read
> >the statusline messages before they disappear.  Should these pause times be
> >a little longer? or could lynx log alert and error messages in a file 
> >somewhere
> >for later viewing?
> 
> good point, laura--as a matter of fact, i saved one of your posts on this
> subject with the intent of asking you if i could adapt it for the basic
> BLYNX faq...  what specifically are the values you use for these settings?

Well, I've been using the defaults. but as I said, I have run certain (failing)
commands over and over to read some of the messages before they vanish.
It probably wouldn't be good to make the pauses too long.  Whatever value
they're set at, someone is bound to disagree...
Perhaps instead of a log file or longer pauses, lynx could save the last
message in a file, or internally, so a person could go back and review it.
Just another item for a wish list.
That seems like something that could be hacked by a person not familiar with
the guts of lynx.  Maybe if I have time, I'll play with it.

> >> COLORs
> ...
> ok--i'm going to have to ask someone else to give it the look over, as i'm
> using speech only...  are you using screen magnification, a CCTV, or
> magnifying software (i.e. vista, zoomtext)?
> 
> what i'll do is add your color settings to the defaults and get some other
> low vision users to test them out...  any full-vision users that want to
> try them, are welcome to, too

I'm using Vista.  Incidently, the SHOW_CURSOR option is great for Vista, as
I can click on the mouse to find where the cursor is, so I don't have to
search the whole screen for the highlighted link.

Which brings up a related thought.
A few weeks ago someone posted mail suggesting that after a search
the screen be centered around the matching string, instead of putting
the line containing the matching string at the top of the page.
I disagree with this personally, as it makes it harder for me to find
the sentence where the matching string is located.  I have to search the
whole screen.  Actually, a totally blind person wouldn't notice this, but
lynx is nice enough to highlight the matching string so it's easy to spot.
(With my color settings, it comes out green.)  But even with the highlighting
I still only see a small spot on the screen at any one time, and have to
move my viewing window all over to find the text I want.
(BTW -- I used to use a screen reader a while back.  It had an option
to identify the color of the text it was reading when the color changed.
Do you ever use such an option?  You might find some surprises on the lynx
display.)

Good luck.
--le
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