<div dir="ltr"><div>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. <br>
</div><div><br></div><div style>Thank you,</div><div style><br></div><div style>Samuel Sennott </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Gary Kline <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kline@thought.org" target="_blank">kline@thought.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="im">Organization: Thought Unlimited. Public service Unix since 1986.<br>
Of_Interest: With 27 years of service to the Unix community.<br>
<br>
</div><div class="im">On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 10:42:14AM -0700, Peter Korn wrote:<br>
> Hi Gary,<br>
><br>
> There are three developments coming out of the AEGIS Project<br>
</div>> <<a href="http://www.aegis-project.eu" target="_blank">http://www.aegis-project.eu</a>> that might be of interest. Take a<br>
<div class="im">> look at Dasher for Android<br>
</div>> <<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dasher.android" target="_blank">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dasher.android</a>>,<br>
> Tecla Access for Android<br>
> <<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.idi.tekla" target="_blank">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.idi.tekla</a>> (that<br>
<div class="im">> provides tremendous control functionality as well), and<br>
</div>> CCF-SymbolDroid <<a href="http://dev.androtech.se/ooo/content.html" target="_blank">http://dev.androtech.se/ooo/content.html</a>>(which is<br>
<div class="im">> compatible with TTS, but more focused on people with<br>
> language/cognitive impairments, yet still may be a useful choice).<br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
</div> thanks, peter, but none of your URL;'S did what by program does.<br>
you would have known that if you have done some minor hacking and<br>
exec's vbc.<br>
<br>
overworking {by putting in from 9- to 13-hour days} for nearly<br>
three years caused my shoulder to subluximate. voila! from<br>
severely disabled to damn-near Totally disabled. out of a job.<br>
<br>
I do not have android; I know the berkeley distro's at the<br>
kernel level ...... well, that's if you go back to the<br>
end-of-lawsuit. ihave slipped a bit. besides writing a slew<br>
of freeware, I spent 7 or 8 years earning my MA in philosophy.<br>
and because my shoulder is giving my grief, I have decided to<br>
hand off vbc to whomever wants to finish it.<br>
<br>
the only shortcoming I see is that t o learn vbc requires the<br>
use to learn a min of the "vim" text editor. this is neither<br>
good nor evil//easy nor hard. but it gives the speech-impaired<br>
user the flexibility of mapping abbrevs: "thr" becomes<br>
"there"; "i" maps to "I"; and "ths" becomes "this" or "those"<br>
depending on the user's desire.<br>
<br>
gary<br>
<br>
ps: vbc uses the GUI version of vim: gvim; espeak voices<br>
whatever is typed when the window is closed.<br>
<div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
><br>
> Regards,<br>
><br>
> Peter<br>
> (former AEGIS Technical Manager)<br>
><br>
> On 8/21/2013 10:34 AM, Gary Kline wrote:<br>
> >Organization: Thought Unlimited. Public service Unix since 1986.<br>
> >Of_Interest: With 27 years of service to the Unix community.<br>
> ><br>
> >On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 12:34:14PM -0400, <a href="mailto:gabey8@aol.com">gabey8@aol.com</a> wrote:<br>
> >>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.<br>
> >><br>
> >>What accessibility features in Android would allow disabled users to make the best use of this tablet?<br>
> >><br>
> >>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.<br>
> >><br>
> >>_______________________________________________<br>
> >>accessibility mailing list<br>
> >><a href="mailto:accessibility@lists.laptop.org">accessibility@lists.laptop.org</a><br>
> >><a href="http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility" target="_blank">http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility</a><br>
> > hello to everyone of the accessibility list,<br>
> ><br>
> > I have dropped out of working on my "Voice By Computer"<br>
> > program some months back even though "VBC|vbc" works<br>
> > well on my Ubuntu linux desktop. I was the first severely<br>
> > disabled EE to graduate as a computer programmer in 1982<br>
> > and have written several open source programs over the<br>
> > years. "vbc" is my text-to-speech effort that was and<br>
> > remains intended for people like myself with a speech<br>
> > impairment.<br>
> ><br>
> > some very old data is available at <a href="http://www.thought.org/vbc" target="_blank">http://www.thought.org/vbc</a><br>
> > with a "src" link that will display a shar "List"; I put this<br>
> > up late last spring informed OLPC. Several minor hacks need<br>
> > to be made to store static data. ~/.config/inkscape/* is an<br>
> > example. What I have in /home/kline/.VBC should be moved to<br>
> > /home/kline/.config/.VBC/*. this is one example.<br>
> ><br>
> > vbc is written in C and GTK+. interested? have at it!<br>
> ><br>
><br>
> --<br>
</div></div>> Oracle <<a href="http://www.oracle.com" target="_blank">http://www.oracle.com</a>><br>
> Peter Korn | Accessibility Principal<br>
> Phone: <a href="tel:%2B1%20650%205069522" value="+16505069522">+1 650 5069522</a> <tel:+1%20650%205069522><br>
<div class="im">> 500 Oracle Parkway | Redwood City, CA 94064<br>
</div>> Green Oracle <<a href="http://www.oracle.com/commitment" target="_blank">http://www.oracle.com/commitment</a>> Oracle is committed<br>
<div class="im">> to developing practices and products that help protect the<br>
> environment<br>
<br>
</div><div class="im">--<br>
Gary Kline <a href="mailto:kline@thought.org">kline@thought.org</a> <a href="http://www.thought.org" target="_blank">http://www.thought.org</a> Public Service Unix<br>
</div> Twenty-seven years of service to the Unix community.<br>
<a href="http://www.thought.org/HOPE" target="_blank">http://www.thought.org/HOPE</a><br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>