[accessiblelinux] Re: We've all been busy, check this out
- From: "Anthony Sales" <tony.sales@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <accessiblelinux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:42:37 -0000
And as a matter of coincidence - me and Tom actually know each other in the
real world
and he gave me a demonstration of OpenSapi in my office last week and it
actually
worked - Sapi5 voices coming out of a Linux box using Orca!!!!!
drbongo
-----Original Message-----
From: accessiblelinux-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Storm Dragon
Sent: Wed 25/03/2009 20:35
To: Accessible Linux
Subject: [accessiblelinux] We've all been busy, check this out
Hi,
This is going to be a bit of a long message. We've all been busy with
in the last 24 hours. What do we have to show for it? First, there is
a new version of Vinux. Here's the release announcement:
I am happy to announce the release of Vinux 1.4!
Vinux a free and open source operating system which has been optimised
for
visually impaired
users. It is based on the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution and built
around
the Orca
screen-reader/magnifier. It is designed to boot your computer, log you
in
automatically
and then start up the Orca screen-reader with Braille support.
Full-screen
magnification can then be activated with a simple keystroke.
New Features for 1.4!
Security: Unlike previous versions Vinux 1.4 has been built from scratch
using the Ubuntu 'mini.iso' 10MB network installation which means it
contains all of the latest packages and security patches as of the day
of
release.
Audible Boot Prompt: The Live CD now sounds the system bell three times
when the boot prompt appears on the screen, which then gives you thirty
seconds to type in any cheatcodes or boot options you require.
e.g. typing 'textonly' will boot into console only mode, you can then
type 'yasr' to start a console based screen-reader.
Braille Displays: The Live CD now supports a wide variety of serial
Braille
displays in edition to the automatic detection of USB Braille displays.
In order to use a serial Braille display or a USB Braille display with
a
different language table you simply have to type in a short code at the
boot prompt. e.g. 'alde' for an Alva Serial display using the German
language table, or 'alude' for an Alva USB display using the german
language table. There are a full list of cheatcodes included in the
'cheatcodes_braille_displays.txt' on the CD. By default Vinux supports
USB Braille displays using the en_uk language table.
Talking Login Screen: Once installed espeak will now ask you to enter
your username and password when the login screen is loaded providing
you
do not enable autologin during the installation process. It will not
however echo what you type, but if you enter the wrong username and/or
password you will be asked to enter them again. It is important that you
should not enable autologin if you are using a wifi connection as the
keyring
manager workaround detailed below depends upon a manual login to work!
Keyring Manager Workaround: Vinux now includes a workaround of sorts for
the
keyring manager which is currently inaccessible with Orca. We have set
up a
pre-configured keyring password 'vinux' which is retained on both the
Live CD
and a full install. This means that when you try to connect to a wifi
network and Orca stops speaking when the keyring manager password dialog
box
opens, you simply have to type 'vinux' into this box and as long as
autologin is not enabled you will never have to enter the keyring
password
again.
Lynx Fix: Lynx, Netrik and Firefox now use a local copy of the
vinux.org.uk
homepage as their starting URL's by default which means that you can
open the broswers without problems whether you have an active internet
connection or not.
Menu Entries for Console Applications: I have added menu entries for
some
of the extra console based applications provided in Vinux. This is to
enable
beginners who may not know the names of these applications or their way
around
the console to find and experiment with them more easily.
Download Vinux 1.4 - http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.4/Vinux-1.4.iso
Check md5sum -
http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.4/Vinux-1.4.iso.md5sum.txt
Vinux Homepage - http://vinux.org.uk/index.php
Full lists of all of the Keybindings for Vinux, Orca, Gnome and Yasr can
be
found
in the Vinux folder in the the home directory.
Credits: I would like to thank Osvaldo La Rosa for all his hard work
in providing the audible beeps and the Braille display cheatcodes,
and David Knight for suggesting the workaround for the keyring
manager bug!
drbongo 24/03/2009
Next, there's a preliminary version of Open Sapi. Here's the info:
Hey All,
Please note the code is incomplete but works, details on the wiki are
incomplete please ask questions join in and help out.
The wiki for the Open SAPI project now has details on how to setup a
development enviroment to get the SAPI engine running under wine. This
will run with speech-dispatcher and orca, not brilliantly and ever so
buggy but it is a work in progress.
It will only get better with your input. I have had the system running
very nicely but during a rework i have managed to introduce some bugs.
http://code.google.com/p/open-sapi/
There is a discussion group to ask questions and make suggestions and
comments which will help me & others add more detail to the wiki.
http://groups.google.com/group/open-sapi
Any help is welcome, wiki writers, developers, SAPI engine owners.
I know it does not work brilliantly at the moment so please do not reply
with "it does not work". Any constructive feedback is welcomed.
Please post this to any other sites, mailing lists and forums where
people might be interested especially other distros and Mac.
Tom
Finally, version 1.5 of orca-customizations.py is ready. Now it
includes an import updates function so opening the terminal to get a new
version will no longer be required after this installation. The default
key binding is orca+v. I had meant to use orca+shift+c but this would
not work with laptop layout.
Enjoy.
Storm
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