linux and accessibility applications

[Gene Collins]

Hi all.  There seems to be a lot of blind folks who want to focus on a g
u i interface, ie. x windows, to the exclussion of all else.  About the
only thing that isn't available from the text console at this point is a
web browser that will support java script.  I happen to know personally,
though I'm not at liberty to say who is working on it, that such a thing
is in the works.  The Gnopernicus folks have really done a number on the
blind community, touting gnopernicus as being useable when it's not.

As for the hardware interface idea, it may be that all devices in the
future will move to a usb interface, but I doubt it.  Speech Dispatcher
is an attempt to allow developers of speech applications to access all
synthesizers from a generic applications programming interface.

It may be that Kirk decides to support Braille displays at some point,
but on the other hand, why reinvent the wheel.  Brailletty co exists
with speakup quite nicely.  The other thing I would point out about the
unified hardware interface idea is that not all hardware is created
equal.

Many of the other ideas you have about Speakup have been incorporated in
to the cvs version of Speakup, and some of the rest are on the to do
list.  But remember, that there seems to be a shortage of people willing
and able to help with Speakup development.  It takes some pretty skilled
c programmers to write code that can live inside the Linux kernel.  If
you speak c and are comfortable writing code that will fit into the
kernel source, Kirk could use the help.

This is in no way ment to be a brush off of your ideas, just that time
and personnel don't always allow for everything to happen as quickly as
folks would like.

Finally, because speakup is a part of the kernel, which is the actual
heart of the operating system, there are some things that other screen
readers can do that Speakup can't.  Like waiting a long time for a
synthesizer to respond, thus holding up every process running on the
system.  Remember that when the kernel is "waiting", it has the
processor, and nothing else can happen.

The long and short of it is, that some of your ideas are practical, and
others may not be.  There is no substitute for learning about the system
you are using.  Many people are prone to make suggestions, with out
understanding what is involved in accomplishing what they suggest.  I
used to do the same thing (grin), so if you find yourself in that
position, don't feel bad.  We all have to learn.  Keep the suggestions
coming, but if some of them don't get implemented, realize that it may
be that they just aren't practical, ie. you didn't have a full grasp of
what was involved when you made the suggestion.

Gene