In a quick survey I did in the Muscular Dystrophy community, over 70% of computer users use a mouse and on-screen keyboard, yet so much interaction is done through hover functionality and hotkeys. There are minimal tools and web accessibility practices out there to make computer usage fully accessible to mouse/touchpad/trackball users. These limitations become even more apparent with specialized software, such as CAD and video editing applications. Would anyone like to help me build something to accommodate this group, of which I am a part?

This app I'm trying to have built is a more advanced on-screen keyboard than the ones integrated into Windows and mobile operating systems. It would allow people who can't use physical keyboards [mouse, touchpad, or trackball only] to not feel limited by hotkeys and hover interactivity by making it possible to replicate these using only a pointing device.

If you would like to see my idea: Please check out the Explanation Animation I made [make sure it's 1080p if it looks too fuzzy]: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A0O_Rowulg2BSoQ1cXGxVxMjgQGnfpOZ/view?usp=sharing

Fill out this survey on it: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdS8_3zE6QVZuZ0pHiK993bGSbHBUf1Y00EGQKNz4nde5JFgg/viewform?usp=pp_url

And look at my open-to-add-to list [that the disability community has been contributing to] of all the challenges people face when using a computer without a physical keyboard: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rVX1xPi7RPNpZCLByPbag69XflagvomfjovvlcQZe8A/edit?usp=sharing

Please share any thoughts, and join my project channel #quickclickkeyboard !

All the best!

UPDATE FROM OCT 22 MEETUP

paws_data_pipeline is off to a great start! Thanks to all those who came out Tuesday night. Great contributions across the board.

THE TEAM AND WHAT WE NEED

We had great representation from people who can make it happen. We are in need of one or a few program manager / project manager / project lead type persons who love to keep things organized! Karla and Chris will be involved every step along the way but lack the bandwidth to do week by week, task by task planning and tracking. CAN YOU HELP HERE??? IF SO… PLEASE JOIN THE SLACK CHANNEL AND MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN!

WHAT WE DID

After the kickoff presentation and some Q&A, we broke into two groups. One group focused on ideating around data extraction and creation of the data lake. The other group looked ahead to data cleansing, matching, validating, and linking it back in to systems-of-record such as Salesforce. Key points from each discussion are below.

Data Lake - Identified our source systems, discussed extraction methods briefly, and considered data lake architecture and construction. Next steps are to dig into one or two data sources, figure out extraction methods (APIs are not widely available although .csv exports are), and inventory records, structure, and elements for movement into the data lake. Test out the process.

Cleansing/Matching etc - Discussed the options for matching data across sources and making sense of the data from multiple systems (eg estimating complexity of cleaning process required and potential data architecture challenges). Next steps are to 1) make a few data sources available (probably on the volunteers/donors integration stream) so the team can understand what variables exist and in what format, and 2) clarify data privacy issues for doing this work. Additionally, PAWS staff will assess whether there are additional data structures to be created (e.g. labels) as an alternative to the currently unstructured text notes.

NEXT MEETING

We will plan a meet for (we think) next week, Tuesday. Or it might be on November 5. Details on the next scheduled hack night are coming. We will communicate it through the Slack channel #paws_data_pipeline.

Some people requested remote connection, perhaps doing remote connections each week and then in-person every other week or once a month. This is still TBD. Thank you for the suggestions.

Stay tuned to the Slack channel for more!

AND… IF YOU ARE NOT INVOLVED YET AND WANT TO BE…. PLEASE JOIN UP!!!!

Chris & Karla

Snow-Capped has it's first users, and as of last week they can login using Google. I figured Google does authentication and two-factor auth pretty well, so why reinvent the wheel? (Even if it's a pretty complicated wheel)

That A+ rating is just about impossible to maintain if your site uses any javascript.. so Snow-Capped is aiming for a B going forward, which is where Apple sets the bar, and is a better rating than Google, Microsoft, and even Vanguard.

I'm also happy to announce that I found a new partner in Kyle Rusak, who is a web dev expert.

Freeze your credit here: https://www.snow-capped.com/join/

This project is designed to help Philadelphia community members collectively quit capitalism and create cooperative ecosystems to live and thrive in with a model similar to startup incubators.

We are currently developing a platform of engagement (website, crowdfunding campaign, virtual and paper zines) to recruit contributors. Our developers site is available to anyone and you don't need any technical knowledge to contribute.

We will be updating the site in two weeks. We will be adding: 1. the ability for organizations to endorse politicians 2. The ability for voters to match to organizations 3. a lot of small fixes.

We have started making outreaches to other election based organizations to try to work together to help each other out.

www.snow-capped.com is live and the registration form is built, but I would like to test just one happy-path user signup before officially opening up to people. So don't sign up just yet, but stay tuned!

All of the personal data that people will register with and transmit to the site is extremely sensitive, so the site was built with security in mind. I'm happy to share that after lots of research and configuration, snow-capped.com gets an A+ on Mozilla's Observatory security testing suite, which is a better grade that most Fortune 500 companies. See for yourself here: https://observatory.mozilla.org/analyze/www.snow-capped.com

Great news! Resource Philly Map (RPM) is pleased to announce its partnership with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. This new partnership empowers us to tailor our app around the needs of Philly Defenders' thousands of constituents.

RPM is designed to be the fastest way to connect people in need with social services in Philadelphia. We are actively developing our prototype, and we would love to involve more collaborators, including developers, project managers, designers, and business analysts. Please reach out on Slack under the channel #resource-philly-map.