Questions More General Than Speakup

[Jude DaShiell]

thinkpenguin.com knows nothing about braille displays so be specific
when requesting the kind of ports you need on anything you buy from
them.  The blinux-list may be able to help with braille display
questions or the slint list though the slint list is for a specific
distribution of linux.

Hoyem wrote:

> Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2020 13:16:51
> From: Tait Hoyem <tait at tait.tech>
> To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux. <speakup at linux-speakup.org>
> Subject: Questions More General Than Speakup
>
> Hello Speakup members,
>
> I have a few questions about braille displays, what they run, and some other miscellaneous questions related to them.
>
> When looking into options for a Linux-based notetaker, I was directed towards this project. I'm not 100% sure this is the right place or not, but would love to hear from you guys.
>
> As part of a personal side project, I am interested in getting a Linux (or *BSD) system running on a notetaker. Are there any commercial options for this?
> Commercial options are good for stability, but I'm also interested in what's inside these things?
> What kind of hardware do these systems run these days? ARM, Intel?
> If so, can I just install a standard Linux to it and have something running? Or will some obscure drivers be needed to make sure it is compatible with this notetaker or that notetaker?
> Are they generally running on Windows? Or some modified Linux/BSD variant to accommodate their users?
> Also, do they have some kind of video out for optional viewing of what's being written? Or is that not needed because they are meant specifically for very visually impaired people?
>
> The last time I used one was back in like 2010, so from what I remember they were very limited in usage. This was also before smartphones and widespread accessibility in mainstream operating systems like Windows and Mac without expensive software packages.
>
> Has the smartphone revolution caused a disturbance in the notetaker market?
> If so, what is it being replaced with? Just a phone with accessibility turned on? Or are there dongled, adapters, specialized cases or any of these things to add on to the basic hardware?
>
> I apologize for all the questions in a haphazard format, here they are in list form:
> 1. Are there commercial Linux based notetakers?
> 2. What kind of hardware is running on notetakers these days?
> 3. Could you install Linux on any old notetaker and have it work, or is there more involved?
> 3.5 Is there a video out on alot of these devices so if something goes wrong (bum drivers, etc.) I can fix it?
> 4. Are notetakers even really used anymore given the advance of smartphones?
> 4.1 What accessories or lack-thereof are visually impaired people using with their phones, if there is a move away from the more traditional notetaker?
> 5. Are any of you aware of any *BSD project dealing with braille/speech output specifically?
>
> Thanks for the work y'all have put into speakup!
> On the off chance that notetakers are being phased out, run Windows anyway, don't have a video out, and run specialized CPUs incompatible with major versions of Linux?then I may need more time at the drawing board.
>
> I want to help command-line tech to be accessible by more people, if that means helping you guys with the speakup project: I'm in! If it means looking more towards BSD as you guys have this covered: I'll do that.
> I want to help. With more information I can decide where to go.
>
> Thanks in advance for reading the slightly off-topic ramble and answering any questions you might have answers to.
>
> ?Tait Hoyem
> Website: https://tait.tech
> Email: tait at tait.tech
>
> "Live until you die; learn until you die."
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>

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