dectalk or double talk advice

[Alex Snow]

I survived both a Networking course and an Intro to Unix course using 
slackware while everyone else used SuSe.
On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 
04:14:51PM -0400, Cody Hurst wrote:
> Hi Greg,
> 
>   Thanks for filling me in on Slackware. I will first look into the
> double talk lt. I kind of figured serial would have to be my obvious
> choice, however I jsut wanted to make sure. These systems are older (not
> ancient) but bottom linie they more than likely have a few serials on
> them.
> 
>   As far as the software part goes, are there any other alternatives to
> speakup, so at least I can have a taste of a few if I should ever need
> another one. It is just kind of up to me to I guess you could say "fend
> for myself" on this course since the school really doesn't know what is
> best for me and never has had a visually impaired person in their
> networking course. I wish things woud work out of the box but we know
> about that.
> 
> Thanks,
> Cody
> 
> On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 12:47 -0700, Gregory Nowak wrote:
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> > First, the operating systems mentioned were suse linux, and
> > netware. There was no mention of windows, thus I don't see how the
> > reference to jaws fits in, unless it was to explain how jaws gets its
> > data, which is besides the point.
> > 
> > Also, the reference to usb being the better choice was
> > inappropriate, since speakup currently doesn't support usb synths, as has
> > been mentioned here frequently, especially in recent threads. Having
> > said that, if you're going to rely on speakup, you will want to be
> > sure that all the work stations you're going to use have at least 1
> > rs232 serial port. If they don't, then you're in trouble if you
> > expect to use speakup.
> > 
> > Also, be aware that suse doesn't include speakup in their
> > distribution, and I'm not aware of any existing suse kernels with
> > speakup patched into them. You mentioned also not being sure about the
> > accessibility of slackware. Actually, slackware was the first
> > distribution to include a speakup-patched kernel in the official
> > slackware media.
> > 
> > As for which synth to choose, I think the 2 biggest factors in that
> > decision are the speech, and the price of each. The doubletalk lt is
> > cheaper than the dectalk usb, which does also have a serial port as
> > far as I know. As for the speech, I personally prefer that of the
> > doubletalk, but that's probably because I've used a doubletalk far
> > more than I have used a dectalk, and others may disagree here as
> > well. Speech is a very qualitative subject, and there is no synth that
> > fits every person's taste perfectly. As an aside, you wouldn't have
> > been able to use a doubletalk pc anyway, because they aren't being produced
> > anymore, and because it is very hard these days to find a pc with an
> > isa slot. Hth.
> > 
> > Greg
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 12:23:06AM -0700, Littlefield, tyler wrote:
> > > First, you're not going to get speech support without a program.
> > > The screen reader puts hooks in the kernel, or catches the video in the case 
> > > of jaws, and translates.
> > > Next, I'd recommend USB, because, if you start using newer systems, most 
> > > don't have a serial port.
> > > Third, the accessibility of slackware is fine, unless you insist on running 
> > > under gnome, x, or something else, then you're really not getting the 
> > > benafit of linux.
> > > HTH,
> > 
> > 
> > - -- 
> > web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
> > gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
> > skype: gregn1
> > (authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)
> > 
> > - --
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> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

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