[laptop-accessibility] Considering closing down the mailing list accessibility at lists.laptop.org
Gary Kline
kline at thought.org
Wed Aug 21 20:19:34 EDT 2013
Organization: Thought Unlimited. Public service Unix since 1986.
Of_Interest: With 27 years of service to the Unix community.
On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 02:57:01PM -0700, Samuel Sennott wrote:
> I too would like to find another outlet for the conversation around OLPC
> accessibility. Hearing questions about how to create low-cost text to
> speech and communication solutions and the OLPC project is something I
> would like to get more into this year.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Samuel Sennott
>
Something occurred to me awhile back--namely, that there
are N types of Linux and there is some kernel {??}
or other difference that differentiates the distributions.
E.g.: are Debian and Ubuntu Linux equivalent?
I've spent most of my years hacking on the "BSD" open-Unix;
thus my uncertainty.... ---FWIW, My new mini-keyboard
arrived and is much easier to use---. Anyhow, as far as *my*
version of free+open TTS is concerned, all you need to do on
your 12.04 Ubuntu is create a user account named "kline,"
drop in the SHAR I posted on 01 jun 13, install espeak, gvim,
and type "make." vbc will be your voice in any 8859-[12]
tongue.
> On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Gary Kline <kline at thought.org> wrote:
>
> > Organization: Thought Unlimited. Public service Unix since 1986.
> > Of_Interest: With 27 years of service to the Unix community.
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 10:42:14AM -0700, Peter Korn wrote:
> > > Hi Gary,
> > >
> > > There are three developments coming out of the AEGIS Project
> > > <http://www.aegis-project.eu> that might be of interest. Take a
> > > look at Dasher for Android
> > > <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dasher.android>,
> > > Tecla Access for Android
> > > <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.idi.tekla> (that
> > > provides tremendous control functionality as well), and
> > > CCF-SymbolDroid <http://dev.androtech.se/ooo/content.html>(which is
> > > compatible with TTS, but more focused on people with
> > > language/cognitive impairments, yet still may be a useful choice).
> > >
> >
> >
> > thanks, peter, but none of your URL;'S did what by program does.
> > you would have known that if you have done some minor hacking and
> > exec's vbc.
> >
> > overworking {by putting in from 9- to 13-hour days} for nearly
> > three years caused my shoulder to subluximate. voila! from
> > severely disabled to damn-near Totally disabled. out of a job.
> >
> > I do not have android; I know the berkeley distro's at the
> > kernel level ...... well, that's if you go back to the
> > end-of-lawsuit. ihave slipped a bit. besides writing a slew
> > of freeware, I spent 7 or 8 years earning my MA in philosophy.
> > and because my shoulder is giving my grief, I have decided to
> > hand off vbc to whomever wants to finish it.
> >
> > the only shortcoming I see is that t o learn vbc requires the
> > use to learn a min of the "vim" text editor. this is neither
> > good nor evil//easy nor hard. but it gives the speech-impaired
> > user the flexibility of mapping abbrevs: "thr" becomes
> > "there"; "i" maps to "I"; and "ths" becomes "this" or "those"
> > depending on the user's desire.
> >
> > gary
> >
> > ps: vbc uses the GUI version of vim: gvim; espeak voices
> > whatever is typed when the window is closed.
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Peter
> > > (former AEGIS Technical Manager)
> > >
> > > On 8/21/2013 10:34 AM, Gary Kline wrote:
> > > >Organization: Thought Unlimited. Public service Unix since 1986.
> > > >Of_Interest: With 27 years of service to the Unix community.
> > > >
> > > >On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 12:34:14PM -0400, gabey8 at aol.com wrote:
> > > >>Before this list goes away, I think it would be worthwhile to visit
> > the accessibility of the recently-released XO Tablet. It's running Android
> > 4.2 Jelly Bean and has a lot of XO-specific software installed.
> > > >>
> > > >>What accessibility features in Android would allow disabled users to
> > make the best use of this tablet?
> > > >>
> > > >>I have, in particular, an interest in text-to-speech capabilities in
> > Android. I know someone whose speech has been severely impaired by
> > Parkinson's Disease, and if Android offers an affordable communication
> > solution, I would recommend her purchase of this tablet in a heartbeat. I
> > know that the iPad offers such apps, and that there are ruggedized/bump
> > cases for it; however, we are talking about someone who is on a fixed
> > income; if Android can offer the same capabilities for less money, I'd be
> > willing to suggest the XO Tablet to her instead.
> > > >>
> > > >>_______________________________________________
> > > >>accessibility mailing list
> > > >>accessibility at lists.laptop.org
> > > >>http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
> > > > hello to everyone of the accessibility list,
> > > >
> > > > I have dropped out of working on my "Voice By Computer"
> > > > program some months back even though "VBC|vbc" works
> > > > well on my Ubuntu linux desktop. I was the first severely
> > > > disabled EE to graduate as a computer programmer in 1982
> > > > and have written several open source programs over the
> > > > years. "vbc" is my text-to-speech effort that was and
> > > > remains intended for people like myself with a speech
> > > > impairment.
> > > >
> > > > some very old data is available at http://www.thought.org/vbc
> > > > with a "src" link that will display a shar "List"; I put this
> > > > up late last spring informed OLPC. Several minor hacks need
> > > > to be made to store static data. ~/.config/inkscape/* is an
> > > > example. What I have in /home/kline/.VBC should be moved to
> > > > /home/kline/.config/.VBC/*. this is one example.
> > > >
> > > > vbc is written in C and GTK+. interested? have at it!
> > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Oracle <http://www.oracle.com>
> > > Peter Korn | Accessibility Principal
> > > Phone: +1 650 5069522 <tel:+1%20650%205069522>
> > > 500 Oracle Parkway | Redwood City, CA 94064
> > > Green Oracle <http://www.oracle.com/commitment> Oracle is committed
> > > to developing practices and products that help protect the
> > > environment
> >
> > --
> > Gary Kline kline at thought.org http://www.thought.org Public Service
> > Unix
> > Twenty-seven years of service to the Unix community.
> > http://www.thought.org/HOPE
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > accessibility mailing list
> > accessibility at lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
> >
> _______________________________________________
> accessibility mailing list
> accessibility at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
--
Gary Kline kline at thought.org http://www.thought.org Public Service Unix
Twenty-seven years of service to the Unix community.
http://www.thought.org/HOPE
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