Here is my promised follow-up to my tests of using /dev/synth as a com port under DOSemu. I installed JAWS for DOS on my simulated C: drive in DOSemu, using Speakup to read the screen. I had to use review most of the time, and the arrow keys didn't speak selections quite right, but I was able to work through it. Anyhow, I selected the Accent SA and told JAWS to use com1. I then killed Speakup and restarted DOSemu with the "-k" flag, and JAWS for DOS came right up and reset the Accent to default values for speed, rate, etc. I went into Jaws, and adjusted the settings as best I could, but couldn't quite match what I use in Speakup. Then, I started playing with various applications and discovered that JAWS behaves much like Tinytalk. That is, it occasionally acted as if words were broken between two lines, but otherwise talked. However, it has its own problems working under DOSemu. For instance, it sometimes doesn't speak the first character of the line, and it seems to have a horrible time tracking the PC cursor. So, I don't recommend it unless you can tweak it and get better performance. I would be greatly interested in how Vocal-Eyes and ASAP handle in DOSemu. Another option besides using the /dev/synth device is to try to load native drivers for the synth if its internal. For instance, I was able to get the Dectalk PC drivers to load, but this required some modifications to /etc/dosemu.conf, involving telling it to pass the base address of the Dectalk directly to DOSemu. JAWS for DOS behaved quite similarly using the Dectalk drivers, so I suspect its problems are more with DOSemu than /dev/synth. I wish I had better news regarding JAWS for DOS, but here you are. I will probably continue to experiment since I can still boot into Windows and use DOS mode for those applications that need it. I started experimenting with this because I eventually plan on upgrading my computer and this will likely involve a shift to Windows XP, which to my knowledge, does not support DOS screen readers. So, I am trying to find a workable alternative.
