Accessibility on Live CD.
I need to use Ubuntu in live cd mode in order to back up some files on a non-functioning windows system etc. What's the best option given the Ubuntu issues with pulse and so on, Ubuntu 9.10 or another version? Also, 32 or 64 bit, presumably would make no difference, right? Or is vinux a better option for this task? Any help appreciated, --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Ubuntu Karmic 9.10 Koala positive feetback relatedtoaccessibility and speech responsiveness
gnome-alsamixer also works pretty well as a mixer. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Solution to No Sound from Second Sound Card
> Trying to fix the volume using Orca was certainly a challenge. There is a fairly accessible program to do this, it's called gnome-alsamixer. Some of the controls are not exactly well labelled, but it works fine. HTH, --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: dictation
I must say I think having good dictation software would be nice, but I also must say I don't actually know of anyone who uses it. But I suppose many could say the same about Orca so it's not a good way of measuring. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: why using graphics mode for a11y?
From: "jonathon" > In as much as GUIs are both functionally, and intrinisically, user > hostile, and self-limiting, there is no virtue to using them. > > GUis are popular because of the herd mentality. I like this game! Let me play. Inasmuch as not fully isomorphic orthographies are functionally and intrinsically user-hostile and self-limiting there is no virtue to using them. All alphabetic writing systems to date are popular because of the herd mentality. Hmm, let's play another one. Inasmuch as alternate current transport is wasteful, there is no virtue to using it. AC is popular because of the herd mentality. I could play this game all evening. But I have more productive things to do. --David. PS The herd mentality is often also known as economies of scale. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: why using graphics mode for a11y?
From: "Nuno Donato" > What is the advantage of using something so complicated as a graphical > user interface, instead of using a text-only alternative? To better > understand the goods and bads of orca, I tried to simulate its use by > closing my eyes and trying to do tasks in my desktop. Of course it takes > time for anybody to get used to it... but still, I don't get it very well. This topic is somewhat controversial, I think, but just speaking for myself: 1) There are many applications that do not exist, or exist poorly, for the console. Say I needed to edit an OpenDocument file. In the console I'd be in trouble. I'm aware there are ways around (I could write it in latex, export to rtf, or some other convoluted thing) but that's not really a solution worth considering. So it's more or less an imperative to at least have access to the GUI. 2) Things like file navigation and so on can be done reasonably efficiently from the console, but most people find it easier to use a more menu-driven interface. Most console apps require more cognitive load in terms of recall and learning than their X counterparts. Whether this cognitive load has returns on efficiency is besides the point, most people don't seem to feel it's worth it. 3) The "social" issue. If I have a doubt about OpenOffice or the like, I can look around on the net, ask a friend to help, etc. If I have a doubt about some specific piece of software designed for blind or visually impaired users in particular, which runs on the console, my resources for finding info will be much smaller. The other way it works too: when a non-blind &c friend asks me something about their setup I have at least half a chance to be able to help them out. 4) Multitasking. The console can be used for multitasking, but it's quite clear that it is a secondary use for it, and in my view it is not as well suited as X. Background tasks can communicate to the user on X in what seems to me are better ways, and it is easier to have any number of apps running than on consoles, and switching around them. Those are the main reasons I see. Maybe some other people see others. I think it's worth using other interfaces like console and emacspeak, but there are also reasons for trying to use the same software other people use. Also, speaking for myself, I don't think using orca requires imagining how the interface actually looks like. Things like menus and so on are abstractions in my mind, I don't really care how they are presented. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Speech-dispatcher as a service?
There is a similar initiative in the Spanish-speaking environment, called tiflobuntu. It seems clear that this solution is being replicated around. IMO it shows two things: 1) Ubuntu out of the box is too fiddly to set up right for accessibility. 2) There is a certain amount of reduplication of effort going on. It would be good if people who are working in this type of solution could (internationalization aside) get together and issue a common accessibility-optimized distro, run from same repositories, etc. Even better would be if Ubuntu came like that already, but that's probably harder to manage. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: a problem with the live cd
> Well, I doubt the order of the languages has changed, if anything, it > saves one having to press the function key that is assigned to the > language choice. So things are now just a little different.You simply > arrow down the number of times you need to get to the language, thn press > enter, and then choose accessibility options from there. Ah, that is OK then. I misunderstood. When you said you thought it would never be accessible I thought you meant it couldn't even be used this way. > I don't think its a downgrade, just having to do things a little > differently to how they were done in the past. You're of course right, sorry for the rant :-) --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: a problem with the live cd
> Accessibility users haven't really been able to select their language, > even prior to this change. This change was not up to me, and I couldn't > argue with the change being made. Do you really begrudge one extra key > having to be pressed just so you can boot the CD? Language was possible to choose. I know many people chose Spanish by pressing appropriate function key and arrowing down a set number of times. Personally I can use English and understand English synthetic voice, but many can't. > As for accessibility for users of other languages, I have a plan to > address that for the next release, as it is far too late to try and do > something aboutit for hardy. The hopeful plan is if an accessibility > option is chosen, that the language the user wishes to use is asked for > just before the desktop loads. That is not a bad idea, but sadly, Hardy installation experience will be a downgrade. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: a problem with the live cd
> Yes, the way the live CD boots up now is slightly different, you now need > to press the enter key before pressing F5. This is because a language > selection list is brought up, before selecting how to boot the CD. This > will likely never be accessible, and English is selected by default, so > just pressing enter, then pressing F5 to set your option is the way > forward. I hope to put something in the release notes for the final > release about ths. So, non-English-speaking blind or visually impaired Ubuntu users are shafted? Why has this changed been made? Does it really justify leaving a lot of people without the chance to practically use the system? --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: Orca script language manual
> I would like learn how can i make script for Orca with new applications. > Have any good documentation with orca script language? Orca's scripting language is python. My suggestion is to look at Orca source code, but no idea if there are good docs on API or whatever. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Re: popularity of linux?
Well, RedHat is for the enterprise, no? Not sure how popular Fedora is. --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
Voxin and simultaneous sounds.
Hi, After managing to get ESpeak to do simultaneous sounds through the alsa-oss trick, I was hoping that it would be equally easy to do the same with voxin. However, the structure of the viavoice speech server appears to be different. Is it possible to just wrap it in aoss like the ESpeak server, or is there another way to achieve the same result? --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
ESpeak and other sound with Ubuntu 7.04
Hi, I've built ESpeak .28 with portaudio 19. I've installed the 2 libs necessary, and then copied portaudio19.h to portaudio.h. Then i copied libespeak.so.1.1.28 to /usr/lib and moved the symlink for libespeak.so.1 to it. Then I overwrote /usr/bin/espeak. Then I moved the espeak-data to /usr/share. This is all working, or so it seems. ESpeak built and runs successfully through Orca. However, whenever I try to launch an application that wants to make sound, ESpeak stops speaking until that application closes. An example is aplay. I seem to have alsa well-configured, since if I do aplay *.wav& aplay *.wav& aplay *.wav& aplay *.wav& I can hear the files being played simultaneously on top of each other. So, any clues? --David. -- Ubuntu-accessibility mailing list Ubuntu-accessibility@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility
