Re: Accessible Distros for a beginner?

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for the diverse and informative replies. I really appreciate 
all the input. I still have to read through a few of the links that some of you 
sent but there are some interesting possibilities.
So far, based on what I'm reading, I'm thinking maybe to start with either 
Stormux on the raspberry Pi, or Slint on a laptop. Debian could be a 
possibility, but as a beginner coming from Windows, I don't know how to compile 
source files yet lol. I like that Debian seems to have an accessibility 
installation. It seems to be a very popular Distro so it probably has a very 
active support community and if I were to walk into a local Linux organization 
I would likely get a lot of mainstream help with it whenever I run into an 
issue. But being a beginner coming from a Windows graphical desktop, I don't 
know if Debian would be a good place for me to start if I would need to already 
know how to compile source files. I took a look at the Debian installation 
manuals before I reached out to this list, and as a beginner, I was totally 
confused by the installation process. Its probably simple, but to me it seemed 
complicated, but thats probably because I'm so new to this.  I'm definitely 
open to the possibility if I could figure out how to make an installation of it.
I don't know if I would also need to compile source files for Slint when I'm 
getting started with the OS? But if Slint starts speaking out of the box more 
or less, maybe I would start with that. I like how many accessibility features 
Slint has. And if I wouldn't need to compile a lot of source files, maybe Slint 
would be a good choice.
Kyle, you mentioned the Raspberry Pi 4 with Stormux. I'm very interested in 
this.
Maybe the Raspberry Pi might be a good beginners platform because its an 
affordable streamline computing system that maybe I could start with, to really 
get a feel for Linux and then later if I want to, I could invest in a hardware 
compatible laptop to run Slint. Or maybe Debian once I understand how to 
compile source files. But maybe for a beginner that really doesn't know what 
I'm doing lol, maybe Stormux would be a nice lightweight Distro for me to get 
introduced to the basics. That way, if I have a difficult time figuring 
something out, or end up somehow completely messing up the system as a novice 
lol, its just a litttle card that I could reinstall the OS and explore things.
I have never used a Raspberry Pi before, so please bear with me if these are 
some very obvious basic questions. But would it be possible to connect the Pi 
to a braille display?
I am fine with speech, but it would be nice to be able to connect a braille 
display if I want to.
Also, Stormux says it comes with MATE as a graphical desktop which I think is 
great, seeing as I am coming from the Windows environment. I am just wondering 
if Stormux will run things like Firefox for a browser?
I ask this because I don't want to use Chromium or Chrome or anything remotely 
google related. Although I know Chromium is open source, I still much prefer 
Firefox or a Firefox fork.
Also, can I run LibreOffice on it?
If it can't run Firefox and LibreOffice then I might decide to go for Slint or 
Debian on a laptop.
But that would be nice if it would run those programs as it seems like an 
interesting option for a beginner who is really unfamiliar with Linux setups.
Sathyan, thanks for the Accessible Coconut recommendation. I've read about it 
somewhere but don't know much about it. I'll definitely look it up and read 
more about it to see if its something that I might like.
Thanks so much to everyone who has replied and shared their suggestions with me.
SL
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