
Grandfather builds Web browser for autistic boy  - nickb
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/03/grandfather_builds_web_browser_for_autistic_boy/
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krschultz
This is truly awesome, though autism hasn't effect my family directly, the
idea of open source solving a problem bigger than just hackers wanting more
control of their software is great. When there isn't a market big enough for a
commercial vendor to step in and build something, open source is the only
viable alternative.

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michael_dorfman
To me, the most interesting part of the article was this:

 _LeSieur didn't create the browser by consulting with people who are
considered experts in disorders on the autism spectrum. The small software
company he runs, People CD Inc., essentially designed the Zac Browser to meet
Zackary's needs, and figured that the approach would likely help other
autistic children._

It seems to me that this was a questionable decision at best. It's great to
design the product to meet his grandson's needs, if it is intended only for
his grandson. However, if he wants it to be likely to help other autistic
children, he really ought to be speaking to other domain experts in the field.
There's no good reason, in my opinion, for cutting yourself off from the
research.

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nertzy
I think there are some lessons to be learned here for general users as well.

Just because the majority of people aren't on the autism spectrum doesn't mean
that they should have to be subjected to distractions and confusing
interfaces.

Sure, an interface for a six year old would be overly simplistic for the
average user, but most of the tools out there fail remarkably in the other
direction.

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babyshake
I think ultimately, software like this makes for interesting stories, but
little more. Kids like this need voice recognition, and multi-touch. Sugar
Labs is doing great stuff, but I think that hardware and basic HCI paradigm
shifts should be the focus.

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nose
Is there a mirror for the software?

~~~
krschultz
zacbrowser.com

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alaskamiller
:)

