Re: [orca-list] Various questions about Orca and the linux world

[Alex Midence <alex midence gmail com>]

I would absolutely not recommend emacspeak for the Linux novice under normal circumstances but, since you are 
a computer science student, it may be worth your while to look into it since it was designed by a blind 
programmer who works for Google and has many productivity aids specifically targeted for the blind user.  
Having said that, please be aware that it has a very high learning curve and getting comfortable with it is a 
time-consuming and, often frustrating process.  This is coming from a big fan of the  product, mind you. 

Alex M


-----Original Message-----
From: orca-list [mailto:orca-list-bounces gnome org] On Behalf Of Fernando Botelho
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 8:42 AM
To: Krishnakant Mane; Øyvind Lode; orca-list gnome org
Subject: Re: [orca-list] Various questions about Orca and the linux world

The same is true with Vinux and F123. For you to find an environment really designed for exclusive use by the 
blind, you would have to be using Emacspeak. Even then, it is a bit of a judgement call. In any case, F123, 
Sonar, Vinux, etc, all have GUI interfaces and are based on generic linux distros.

Fernando


On 10/13/2014 10:28 AM, Krishnakant Mane wrote:
> Just one quick comment,
> Sonar although designed for blind people, is actually based off of 
> manjaro which is a general purpose distro.
> It just has some extra features needed by blind people, so it is not 
> really a totally custom made distro, just that some additional things 
> are there.
> happy hacking.
> Krishnakant.On 10/13/2014 05:14 PM, Øyvind Lode wrote:
> > You don't need a Braille display to install Debian.
> > Download the net install image and boot it up.
> > It will beep when at the boot prompt and at this point press "s" and 
> > hit enter.
> > You will now be able to install Debian using Speakup using software 
> > speech via eSpeak/eSpeakup.
> > Speakup with software speech will start automatically when your new 
> > installation boots up.
> > I don't use a graphical desktop, so I cant answer these questions.
> > But I'm considering trying out Linux as a desktop system at some point.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: orca-list [mailto:orca-list-bounces gnome org] On Behalf Of 
> > Vincenzo Rubano
> > Sent: 13. oktober 2014 12:15
> > To: orca-list gnome org
> > Subject: [orca-list] Various questions about Orca and the linux world
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > my name is Vincenzo and I am a blind Italian computer science 
> > student. Looking for various information about linux, I came across 
> > this list and I decided to subscribe.
> >
> > Starting from this year, I’ll need to use linux for various projects 
> > at university; however, before beginning to test various distros, I’d 
> > like to ask you some questions. I am a novice in the linux world. I 
> > only have experience with Mac OS X (my primary system) and Windows.
> >
> > 1. First off, I was wondering wether anyone managed to get any linux 
> > distro with AT features enabled working on a single-board computer, 
> > like the Raspberry P or the Banana-p. Was the machine usable, or did 
> > it have too much latency/was it too slow to let you be productive?
> >
> > 2. Searching for information, I came across two distros that claims 
> > to be designed with accessibility in mind: Vinux and Sonar. Honestly, 
> > I noticed that these distros are popular only among blind users and 
> > could be considered something like a custom product for blind people.
> > Since I don’t like this philosophy, I was wondering wether anyone had 
> > experience with “mainstream” linux distros and could recommend me 
> > what distro to start with.
> >
> > 3. Since my classmates and professors at university are going to use 
> > Debian, I’d like to know wether anyone knows what the most critical 
> > accessibility issues in Debian are and if there are some workarounds 
> > to bypass them. For instance, I read that Debian can be installed by 
> > a blind user on his own only if he has a USB Braille Display 
> > plugged-in during the first boot, so that Debian can enable Brltty 
> > and switch automatically to the text-based installation. However, I 
> > learnt that orca on this distro must be downloaded separately after 
> > the installation. Is that correct?
> >
> > 4. In some pages on the Vinux website, I read that Orca works better 
> > with Speech dispatcher than with Gnome speech (which is the default 
> > speech engine in Gnome, if I understood correctly). Can you confirm 
> > that? If so, how hard switch from Gnome Speech to speech dispatcher is?
> >
> > 5. From what I’ve understood, the most critical points to get an 
> > accessible GUI in a distro are the login manager and the window 
> > manager. Do you have any recommendations about which ones to pick/avoid?
> >
> > 6. Last but not least, do you know wether Orca works properly with 
> > gnome-terminal? If not, is there any alternative to make it 
> > accessible for a blind user?
> >
> > Thank you in advance for your help. Sorry for asking so much 
> > questions, but I’d like to make productive tests instead of wasting 
> > time on something someone else already figured out. I do believe that 
> > putting together all the information we have it could be even easier 
> > to communicate our issues with mainstream distro maintainers and, 
> > maybe, get their interest in fixing them.
> >
> > Looking forward to hearing back from you.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Vincenzo.
> > _______________________________________________
> > orca-list mailing list
> > orca-list gnome org
> > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca.
> > The manual is at
> > http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-access-guide/nightly/ats-2.html
> > The FAQ is at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
> > Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org Find out 
> > how to help at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp
> > _______________________________________________
> > orca-list mailing list
> > orca-list gnome org
> > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca.
> > The manual is at
> > http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-access-guide/nightly/ats-2.html
> > The FAQ is at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
> > Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org Find out 
> > how to help at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp
>
> _______________________________________________
> orca-list mailing list
> orca-list gnome org
> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca.
> The manual is at
> http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-access-guide/nightly/ats-2.html
> The FAQ is at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
> Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org Find out 
> how to help at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp

_______________________________________________
orca-list mailing list
orca-list gnome org
https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca.
The manual is at http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-access-guide/nightly/ats-2.html
The FAQ is at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org Find out how to help at 
http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp