I'm using voiceover in terminal now to write this. I constructed a screen reader using the so called key commanders in combination with existing voiceover key commands. One main reason I don't use linux is the absence of easily intelligible voices, of which the mac and voiceover have many built in; including in terminal which is a flavor of unix.. On Fri, 16 Apr 2021, Linux for blind general discussion wrote: > Further, I believe?, that tdsr is recommended for the mac terminal, since > voiceover cannot run effortlessly in terminal. > Mac is a Unix based system, like Linux. > > > On Fri, 16 Apr 2021, Linux for blind general discussion wrote: > > > If you made this synthesizer compatible with Speech Dispatcher then it > > could be compatible with any screen reader that used Speech Dispatcher. I > > know that Orca and TDSR use Speech Dispatcher and others are probably able > > to use it as well. > > > > On Fri, Apr 16, 2021, 5:56 PM Linux for blind general discussion < > > blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > >> > >> Hi all, > >> > >> Thanks for yourinterest and for all your good questions. It seems like > >> maybe some ofyou missed the link to the demos that was posted in the first > >> email.So for those who didn't see it, I am pasting it again here for you > >> toclick and listen. I'm putting the link first so you don't miss it.But > >> then, under that, I will endeavor to answer each of yourquestions as best I > >> can. So please continue reading after clickingthe link: > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> https://www.readspeaker.com/text-to-speech-demo/ > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> To Rudy: > >> > >> Hopefully the linkin this email will give you an idea of how the voices > >> sound. When youclick it, it brings you to Readspeaker's official demo page > >> where youcan hear short samples of the voices available. If they are not > >> longenough for you to get a sense of the flow with longer text, you > >> canemail me for some samples in mp3 format. I tried to include my > >> emailbefore but it just blanks out the punctuation. So I will spell outthe > >> punctuation, and you will know to just insert the actual symbolsinstead. My > >> email is: > >> > >> software dotliberators at slmail dot me > >> > >> To A: > >> > >> If there is enoughinterest in this project to make it official, then the > >> goal is tomake Readspeakr voices available to any of the most widely > >> usedDistros that have Orca or Speakup. Similar to how Voxin offers > >> Nuancevoices that you can install on most Distros with screenreaders. > >> > >> Yes, Readspeakerdoes offer both Swedish and Finnish along with many other > >> languages. > >> > >> Please click on thelink I included at the top of this email. On that page, > >> you will seea combo box to select your language for a demo. Scroll up in > >> thatcombo box and you will find Swedish and Finnish, then, once youselect > >> the language, tab down, and press enter on "listen". > >> > >> To the person whosuggested further platforms of usage such as Mac > >> terminals and Linuxon Windows, I appreciate the suggestion and this is > >> certainlysomething to look into. > >> > >> Personally I onlyhave experience with stand alone Windows, and stand alone > >> Linux. > >> > >> I really don't knowanything about the workings of Mac OS, but if a Mac > >> terminal runs onLinux compatible software, then it might be possible to > >> incorporateReadspeaker voices. However, with Mac, I'm assuming you're > >> dealingwith Apple and whatever protocols they have as a company to > >> approveof third party TTS providers. That is an avenue that I am really > >> notfamiliar with, but if anyone hear is a Mac afficionado withexperience > >> with Apple's protocols for approving third partyproviders, please feel free > >> to share that knowledge with me. > >> > >> Mac and Windowsalready have so many natural sounding speech options > >> available thatI'm really focusing on trying to bring Readspeaker to Linux > >> inparticular, to give Linux users more choices for natural soundingspeech. > >> So if Apple already provides natural voices for the Macterminal, then it > >> may be better to focus solely on stand alone Linuxsystems. > >> > >> However, it seemsthat the Linux on Windows that you speak of, should be > >> able toutilize these voices if its essentially still Linux software. > >> > >> I'm still open toany ideas about Mac terminal and Linux on Windows, its > >> just that Idon't have any experience with that, I don't know if there > >> arealready existing natural voices for them seeing as it seems to be Linux > >> software but running on top of Mac or Windows, but any input on that would > >> be great. > >> > >> To Chime: > >> > >> We might be able torequest Heather if we get enough interest to get this > >> project up andgoing. Although the only place where I have seen Heather > >> utilized isin their web-reader solutions which are a bit different from > >> theirLinux compatible SDK. They do offer the option to have > >> customizedvoices though, so we might be able to request Heather if we > >> reallywant that. Personally, for US English I like the Julie voice which > >> isavailable to demo on the Readspeaker site, as well as the Sophievoice > >> which is what they used to record that mp3 file for Consoleusers that you > >> listened to. > >> > >> Let me know if youever end up finding any samples of the Voxygen Hypra > >> voices, I'd liketo know what they sound like in English and I havn't found > >> any Hyprasamples either. > >> > >> To Debin Prater: > >> > >> Thanks for theinput. > >> > >> I'm a beginnerso I don't have experience with the Emacspeak servers you > >> speak of.But if we move forward with a project with Readspeaker, the > >> goalwould be to offer the voices for the most widely used Distros > >> thatinclude Orca or Speakup for people to install the voices and use on > >> their localsystem. > >> > >> I really havn'tsmoothed out the finite details on that as to how exactly > >> the interface making Readspeaker available for Linux screenreaders would > >> work in terms of the technicalities. For example, how to make it available > >> both for Debian based systems and for something like Arch, just throwing > >> out examples. But Voxin has done it with Nuance, so it should be doable > >> with Readspeaker and the guys at Readspeaker are apparently willing to > >> consider developing an interface to make it possible, as long as there is > >> enough interest in the community, and so long as it would be commercially > >> viable for them. > >> > >> My first step is to simply find out ifthere is any interest, which, it > >> seems like there is a small handful here on this list that would be > >> interested. > >> > >> Other Consolereaders might be considered as well, and would be mentioned > >> in an officialsurvey before actually getting started on the project, to > >> determinewhat is the most popular Console screenreader for Linux users > >> andstart with that. Hopefully offering voices for Orca graphical, and > >> atleast the most widely used Console reader. I know there's quite a > >> fewConsole readers out there, but we'd have to really decide where > >> thedevelopers at Readspeaker would focus their time and effort intomaking > >> their Linux compatible interface to bring Readspeaker voicesto > >> screenreaders. > >> > >> > >> I think startingwith Orca for Graphical, and then one Console Reader, > >> would be good. > >> > >> Havn't even gotteninto Emacs yet, but if that uses a seperate screenreader > >> and iswidely used, then that would be something to consider including > >> ifpossible. I'm just trying to cover the basics of something forgraphical, > >> and something for console. As far as I know, isn't Emacslike a text editor > >> and used for programming etc? Do people also useit like a screenreader to > >> access daily tasks on Linux instead of OrcaOr Espeakup? > >> > >> To Didier: > >> > >> Wow, didn't know youalso reached out to Readspeaker as an Ivona > >> distributor back in theday. Good to know. Its too bad that something can't > >> be done to bringIvona to Linux seeing as one of their original pages said > >> that anIvona SDK was compatible. But when I asked them, I got the > >> sameresponse that Ivona is linked with Amazon now so Ivona is not an option. > >> > >> I'm not the only oneto inquire. You asked them years before me, and I > >> wouldn't besurprised if we're not the only ones to ask for Ivona. > >> Quitefrustrating that Ivona is not more open to collaborating > >> foraccessibility solutions on multiple platforms. Even from a > >> strictlybusiness standpoint, Ivona could make additional proffits from > >> selling solutions to Linux users. Oh well. > >> > >> As for theReadspeaker brand voices, when I contacted them, they did say > >> thatthey usually only sell to businesses, not individuals; but they > >> saidthat in this case, they would be willing to consider developing > >> aninterface to bring Readspeaker voices to Linux screenreaders providedthat > >> there is enough interest in the community, and that it would becommercially > >> viable. Thats why I'm trying to get a baseline ofinterest, to see if its > >> worthwhile to try to move forward with this. > >> > >> To Francisco: > >> > >> Yes, I totally agreewith you. Thats why I started this endeavor, first > >> trying to bringIvona to Linux but that didn't work out. Now trying to > >> bringReadspeaker's own brand of voices to Linux. I too want to see > >> morenatural sounding voices become available to Linux. Allowing Linuxusers > >> to have a similar range of natural TTS choices as Windowsusers, and in > >> return, more people may decide to give Linux a try. > >> > >> Thanks to all forthe inquiries, hope I was able to answer at least some of > >> yourquestions, feel free to keep asking questions or sharing ideas, andfor > >> those of you who missed the link the first time around, please dotry > >> listening to the demos available on Readspeaker's web page. > >> > >> Thanks, > >> > >> SL > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Blinux-list mailing list > >> Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > >> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > > _______________________________________________ > > Blinux-list mailing list > > Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Blinux-list mailing list > Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > > -- XR _______________________________________________ Blinux-list mailing list Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list