Efficiently using terminal with screenreader

[John G Heim]

I am a linux sys admin for the Math department at the University of 
Wisconsin. I use gnome-terminal for just about everything I do. If you 
type an ls command, for example, you can listen to the results using the 
numpad keys.  So the numpad 8 key moves you up one line. To get to the 
top of the display you can press insert+7 and then work your way down by 
pressing the numbpad 2 key. Once you have the orca cursor on some text, 
you can use the numpad keys to do things like read a word, spell it, 
select it, etc.

In gnome-terminal to select a word, you can hit the numpad slash key 
twice to simulate a double click. A triple click selects the entire 
line. You can then copy/paste the word or line into a window.

Perhaps an example would help. Suppose you wanted to install a package. 
that allows you to download audio files from youtube. Here's what you'd 
do on a Debian/Ubuntu system:

1. Open a terminal window by pressing alt+control+t.  If this doesn't 
work, you can press alt+f2 to open a run dialog box and type 
"gnome-terminal".

2. Search for the package by typing "apt-cache search youtube".

3. Press the numpad 8 key until you hear the name of the package you 
would like to install. In this example, it is youtube-dl. Use the numpad 
4, 5, and 6 keys to move left and right making sure the orca cursor is 
on the name of the package you wish to install

4. Press the numpad slashkey twice quickly. This should select the name 
of the package.

5. Press control+shift+c to copy the selected text to the clipboard. 
Note that this is not an orca command. It's a standard gnome-terminal 
command. Other terminal programs might use the more standard control+c.

6. Enter a command to install the package. Type "sudo apt-get install " 
and then press control+shift+p to paste the package name into the 
command. Press enter and it should start the installation.

If there is a way to select text from 2 or 3 lines, I do not know it. If 
I need to do that, I always select all with control+shift+a, press 
control+shift+c to copy all the text into the clipboard, and then paste 
it into a text editor. There I can select just the characters I want.

On 12/14/20 12:52 PM, Reece O'Bryan wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I’m having trouble efficiently accessing outputs from terminal in Orca. I need a fully functioning screen reader, is there an easy way to navigate line by line of output from terminal in espeakup or orca?
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> -Reece
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