2. Introduction

While there are a number of screen readers available to Linux ™ users, Speakup is unique because it provides console speech from startup to shut down. With most screen readers, users must wait until Linux boots, then rely on audible cues (such as when the hard drive stops spinning) to notify them to type in their username and password. Until the user has completed the login process and then started the screen reader, no speech feedback is provided.

Speakup, on the other hand, is able to provide speech from bootup because it is a kernel patch that starts running as soon as Linux boots. Users can hear all of the bootup messages (useful if there are problems that occur before reaching the login prompt) and have audio cues for logging on. Once the user has logged on, Speakup reads all the text that appears on the console, and Speakup works with any console application.

Speakup is also unique because it can provide speech during installation. To enable an audio installation, users first download Speakup-patched installation disks for the Debian, Red Hat, or Slackware distributions. Immediately after bootup, users identify their speech synthesizer by typing in a simple string, and from that point on, audio feedback is provided. Thus, Speakup allows Linux installation without sighted assistance.