Hi, I’m passing this along to a blind and Arctic person. She runs android discuss a mailing list. I’ve already sent her a private note that essentially said this. About Lenox. I in an extremely small way mentioned to her that one of the list members in fact the person I’m responding to and I met vicariously through a late amateur radio operator. Who lived in Denver taught me a lot that I know of X. I was just sitting here getting about the past briefly. I said to the final vote that person is no longer with us. He is certainly not forgotten. Be well everyone. Sincerely Maurice Mines. > On Jun 14, 2020, at 10:35, Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > I believe the reason there's no Orca on Linux is because the UI layer on > Android is based on Java, whereas Orca is a GNOME/GTK application. > > So, yes, they both have Linux under the hood; but that's about the > extent of the similarity. > > PS: Also lacking on Android is screen reader access to anything terminal > based. Talkback, being Java based and object oriented, isn't likely ever > to support terminal applications on Android. Yet, quite a few users > would love to bring up a bash prompt on their Android devices, > especially to ssh out to an external Linux. > > Sp[eakup is unlikely to work well for that, as Google's Linux kernel > seems pretty specific to what they consider important, vis a vis > supporting all Linux kernel modules. Perhaps when Speakup finally exists > Staging and becomes part of the Linux kernel, this may be an option. > > Far more practical, imo, is Fenrir. I have sometimes thought of putting > together an Android build environment to see whether I could get Fenrir > to run on Android--but I'd be perfectly happy should someone else get > there first! <smile> > > Best, > > Janina > > Linux for blind general discussion writes: >> I've been doing some web crawling, trying to get an idea of the prospects >> for a blind-accessible, (mostly) open source OS for Android HW devices. >> >> The rest of this message is a mishmash of links and notes; if anyone can >> provide additions and corrections, I'd be most grateful... >> >> -r >> >> # Availability >> >> The Android application package (APK) is the Golden Path for distribution, >> but some Google Play apps aren't available to "rooted" Android phones: >> >> SafetyNet Explained: Why Android Pay and Other Apps Don’t Work on Rooted Devices >> https://www.howtogeek.com/241012 >> >> It would be nice to have a Linux-friendly tool (e.g., APT) as an alternative. >> Meanwhile, some packages are available via microG (https://microg.org). >> >> # Accessibility >> >> ## Android >> >> The Golden Path for a11y seems to be the Android Accessibility Suite, available >> on the Google Play Store: >> >> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.marvin.talkback >> >> More general information is available on the Android accessibility overview page: >> >> https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006564?hl=en >> >> ## Celia >> >> This seems interesting, even though it (currently) only supports Chinese. >> However, it (and EMUI) are proprietary. >> >>> Celia is an artificially intelligent virtual assistant developed by Huawei >> for its latest Android-based EMUI smartphones that lack Google Services >> and a Google Assistant. >> >> -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_(Virtual_assistant) >> >> ## Screen Readers, etc. >> >> TalkBack and BrailleBack (both found in the Android Accessibility Suite) >> seem to be the Golden Path for blind-friendly Android support. >> >> Despite this title, there doesn't appear to be any APK version of Orca: >> >> Orca Download for Linux (apk, deb, eopkg, rpm, tgz, txz, xz, zst) >> https://pkgs.org/download/orca >> >> More generally, I can't find any open source screen readers listed for APK: >> >> Search Results for "screen reader" >> https://pkgs.org/search/?q=%22screen%20reader%22 >> >> # OS Family Tree >> >> TL;DR: There are lots of (all or mostly) free OS variants, but their a11y >> support is extremely limited. Also, many of them are only intended to be >> used on a single vendor's devices. >> >> Anyway, here is an OS family tree of sorts, with informational links. >> It's based on Wikipedia's "List of custom Android distributions" >> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_custom_Android_distributions), >> supplemented with information gleaned from assorted web sites (YMMV). >> >> Linux - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel >> - AOSP - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#AOSP >> - - ConquerOS - https://github.com/ConquerOS/manifest >> - - CopperheadOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CopperheadOS >> - - CyanogenMod - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod >> - - - LineageOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS >> - - - - CrDroid - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrDroid >> - - - - Project Sakura - https://sourceforge.net/projects/projectsakura/files/Mido >> - - - - Replicant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicant_(operating_system) >> - - - - - /e/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system) >> - - DerpFest - https://derpfest.org >> - - Emteria.OS - https://emteria.com >> - - EMUI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMUI >> - - EvolutionX - https://evolution-x.org/# >> - - Flyme - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meizu#Flyme >> - - GrapheneOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GrapheneOS >> - - GSI - https://source.android.com/setup/build/gsi >> - - Havoc-OS - https://sourceforge.net/projects/havoc-os >> - - Ion OS - https://sourceforge.net/projects/i-o-n >> - - MoKee - https://download.mokeedev.com >> - - MIUI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI >> - - MSM-Xtended - https://sourceforge.net/projects/xtended >> - - OmniROM - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OmniROM >> - - OxygenOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxygenOS >> - - Paranoid Android - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_Android_(software) >> - - Pixel Experience - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_Experience >> - - Realme - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realme >> - - Smartisan OS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartisan_OS >> - - ViperOS - https://download.viperos.org/# >> >> # Starting Points >> >> My suspicion is that the LineageOS, Replicant, and /e/ flavors are the >> most promising starting points, but I could certainly be wrong. If you >> know of something you think is better, please let me know! >> >> Speaking of which, the definition of "better" is very context-dependent. >> If avoiding any and all proprietary software is your goal, Replicant may >> be the best choice. If you want instant gratification, you might want >> to purchase a phone that already has /e/ installed... >> >> Also, if you're only using Wi-Fi for connectivity, you can ignore some >> cell phone issues (e.g., CDMA, FDMA, and TDMA signal encoding). >> >> ## Replicant >> >> - https://replicant.us/ >> - https://replicant.us/about.php#faq >> - https://replicant.us/freedom-privacy-security-issues.php >> - https://replicant.us/supported-devices.php >> >> - https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/DeviceStatus >> >> ## LineageOS >> >> - https://lineageos.org >> - https://lineageos.org/blog >> - https://wiki.lineageos.org >> - https://wiki.lineageos.org/faq.html >> >> ## /e/ >> >> - https://doc.e.foundation/devices/ >> - https://doc.e.foundation/what-s-e >> >> - https://e.foundation >> - https://e.foundation/about-e >> - https://e.foundation/about-e/#why-/e/ >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Blinux-list mailing list >> Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx >> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > > -- > > Janina Sajka > > Linux Foundation Fellow > Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup: http://a11y.org > > The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) > Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures http://www.w3.org/wai/apa > > > _______________________________________________ > Blinux-list mailing list > Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list _______________________________________________ Blinux-list mailing list Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list