There are speakup disks for Debian which self-install, and I think there is one for RedHat 9, but you need a hardware synthesizer for those to work. Linux is something you need to learn some before you fool with it, but the alternative is Windows and that can be a pain. Now if there were a way to make the xp recovery console speak -- now that would be useful! Problem is that in that console many drivers are not loaded yet. In Linux, a good sound editor would be very nice, there is one in CVS, but its still primitive called awe. on Thursday 02/26/2004 herzog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(herzog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote > I agree about the " what is > needed is an installation disk that will produce braille and/or speech > immediately, so that a blind person could carry out the installation." > > I've been following the list for over a year now, and have yet to see > such a disk, or any references to it at any price. So as to "There are > others on this list with experience in this area."; it has not been > apparent to me. > I've never seen an available one shot install for any machine. > It may seem trivial to you, but many would be greatly helped. > I've been on such a unrequited quest for several years. > > I thought Linux and EdMac would be the cheap fix for the blind. So far > Linux is only simple when you know, and Way too hard for a newbie; much > less a blind person, to start alone. And I have not learned enough to > help. I still think that there is a real need for the blind person to have > a simple install, similar to the sighted person's Redhat 9 install disks. > > Many elderly people just want a talking E-mail to help fill in their > social isolation. Especially needed is the simple to use mail program that > is immune to virus, or require Norton, etc. and can be simply installed on > any old computer that has or can accept a sound board. > After they get started they are ready to add letter writers (Word > Processing) and printing; Yes many use their outputs to sighted people. > > Will > At 02:20 PM 2/25/04, John wrote: > >There are already lots of screenreaders fro Linux, and they are all free. > >I'm using brltty myself, since i use braille. Others use Speakup or > >Emacspeak. Fedora may already include some of these, but I don't know > >since I haven't messed with it. I'm using Redhat 8.0. Perhaps what is > >needed is an installation disk that will produce braille and/or speech > >immediately, so that a blind person could carry out the installation. > >There are others on this list with experience in this area. I'm looking > >for an actual programming project. > > > >John > > > > > >So I'm looking for suggestions for programs that would really benefit > > > >blind people. I think a text-mode program, possibly using the curses > > > >library, would be most appropriate. I've tested Gnome and Gnopernicus, but > > > >they really aren't ready for normal use by blind persons, at least not for > > > >those who use braille displays. > > > > > > > >On a related subject, I really can't see any inherent advantage to a GUI > > > >unless you can actually SEE the screen. All the usability features can be > > > >implemented in text mode. > > > > > > > >Thanks, > > > > > > > > > > > >-- > > > >John J. Boyer; Executive Director, Chief Software Developer > > > >Computers to Help People, Inc. > > > >http://www.chpi.org > > > >825 East Johnson; Madison, WI 53703 > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list -- John Covici covici@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _______________________________________________ Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list