Linux Accessibility Solutions ============================= Copyright © 2002 by Red Hat, Inc. This document will cover the following topics: * Why people should choose Red Hat Linux as an accessibility solution * What tools, utilities, and drivers are available * Installing accessibility solutions * Working with accessibility solutions * Additional resources Why people should choose Red Hat Linux as an accessibility solution ==================================================================== Linux offers an inexpensive and efficient solution for the disabled community. Open source software costs far less compared to tools that run on other operating systems and Linux tools are often freely downloadable. While the Graphic User Interface (GUI) is convenient for sighted users, it is often inhibiting to those with visual impairments because of the difficulty speech synthesizers have interpreting graphics. Linux is a great OS for users with visual limitations because the GUI is not required by the kernel. Most modern tools including email, news, Web browsers, calendars, calculators, and much more can run on Linux without the GUI. The working environment can also be customized to meet the hardware or software needs of the user. Red Hat, Inc. offers outstanding support with the purchase of any boxed set. Installation Support is deliverable via email or via the telephone and special circumstances will be considered and addressed for users with physical limitations. The customer should inform the support technician if they require specialized support. Red Hat provides the up2date client and the Red Hat Network. These services simplify file management and make it easier for customers to effortlessly keep their computers secure and up to date. What kind of open source tools, utilities, and drivers are available ===================================================================== Current development is focusing on visual and mobility impairments. There are software, hardware, console, and graphic solutions available; however, the graphic solutions are limited at this time. The GNOME Accessibility Project (http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/) is making great progress bringing the Gnome desktop up to speed. The KDE Accessibility Project (http://accessibility.kde.org) is simultaneously working to make sure the KDE desktop is accessible as well. Hardware -------- The biggest advantage of the hardware speech solutions is that speech is available before the OS loads (makes it easier to install). Hardware solutions include speech synthesizers, braille terminals, braille printers, sip and puff systems, eye gaze pointing devices, etc. These devices are usually very expensive, and it is difficult to find drivers for them. Drivers are being written (mostly for speech synthesizers) for Linux but they need to be tested and certified before they can be added to Red Hat's Hardware Compatibility List. Jim Van Zandt has also written several servers that work with Emacspeak. These servers can be found in a package called emacspeak-ss on Jim Van Zandt's webpage (http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/) or linked within the Emacspeak HOWTO. For more information on Emacspeak, please refer to http://emacspeak.sf.net. Software -------- This document will focus mostly on software tools and utilities that will work with Red Hat Linux versions 6.2, 7, 7.1 and 7.2. The recommended utilities have been tested and work well with only an internal sound card and a standard set of external speakers or headphones. Emacspeak and IBM ViaVoice Outloud were the most reliable, most economical and easiest solutions to install and configure with Red Hat Linux. Requirements ------------ You will need to meet the following minimum requirements to get speech working with your Red Hat Linux system: * Computer (Minimum): Pentium Class Processor, 64MB RAM (A faster processor and more RAM will significantly improve performance) * Output: Standard speakers or headphones plugged into the soundcard * Soundcard: Any Red Hat supported or certified card * Operating System: Red Hat Linux 6.2, 7, or 7.1 * Software Synthesizer: IBM ViaVoice Outloud * T.V. Raman's Multi-Purpose text editor: Emacspeak-14-0.1 Installing and using IBM's software speech synthesizer and Emacspeak-14-0.1 with Red Hat Linux ========================================================== First, make sure your soundcard is working and is compatible with Red Hat Linux. You can make sure your device is supported by checking Red Hat's Hardware Compatibility List (http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/) for your distribution. As root, from the console, you should use the sndconfig tool to set up the soundcard. You should also familiarize yourself with emacs and emacspeak. You might start with A Gentle Introduction to Emacspeak (http://emacspeak-guide.sourceforge.net/) by Gary Lawrence Murphy. The Emacspeak HOWTO (http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html) written by Jim Van Zandt is a very good resource although the document is limited to the Slackware distribution. Next, you will need to download and install the IBM ViaVoice, lesstif, and emacspeak packages. At the time of this writing, you can download the most recent versions of these packages at ftp://people.redhat.com/jlamb. You can also get the IBM ViaVoice software synthesizer from IBM (http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/dev/index.html). Links, updates, and more information on Emacspeak is available at T.V. Raman's main page (http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/People/raman/emacspeak/emacspeak.html). To install the packages, you will have to be the superuser (or root user). From the console, log in as root and change to the directory where you downloaded the packages. Type and enter each of the following commands: rpm -Uvh lesstif* The lesstif package enables Emacspeak in the X Window System and eliminates dependency errors when installing Emacspeak. If you do not have X installed, you will not need the lesstif package. Next, type: rpm -Uvh emacspeak-14.0-1.i386.rpm --nodeps After you install Emacspeak, you will get this message: Emacspeak is now installed on your system. Note that this has installed the sources for Emacspeak speech server for ViaVoice Outloud --a software speech synthesis engine. However, you need to obtain and install the ViaVoice Outloud RPMs and then compile this speech server for ViaVoice Outloud. 1) Download and install the ViaVoice Outloud RPMs from http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/dev/index.html 2) cd to /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/emacspeak/servers/linux-outloud and type make 3) The Outloud speech server uses midi for producing auditory icons. You need to obtain and install package stdiosynth from http://www.leb.net/pub/blinux/emacspeak/blinux/stdiom.tar.gz Again, run the rpm command to install ViaVoice Outloud: rpm -Uvh ViaVoice* A couple of readme files will appear if you are in a graphic environment. The next step is to type: cd /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/emacspeak/servers/linux-outloud Type: make Next, log out and log back in as a normal user. You should now be able to start Emacspeak by issuing the following command: emacspeak -o Note: ViaVoice Outloud will not serve auditory icons without the Stdio Musician package. If you wish to enable this functionality, you will need to download and install the stdiom.tar.gz package located at the Blinux site. Make sure to take a look at the README that accompanies this download for specific configuration instructions. Reading news using Linux and Emacspeak ====================================== Gnus is the news reader included with Emacspeak. Gnus gets the appropriate data from the .newsrc file in the user's home directory. If you wish to post and read news through Emacspeak, please see my.news.org or www.gnus.org for manuals, tutorials, HOWTOs, etc. To start Gnus, type the following: M-x, gnus This command will display all the newsgroups you are subscribed to. To select a newsgroup, highlight your selection and press the space bar. You will next have to specify how many articles you would like to open. Type the number you desire and press [Enter]. This will split the screen into two buffers. The top section is the summary buffer, the bottom section is the article buffer. You should now be able to read your news. For a detailed overview of this tool, please see the above link. Sending and reading email using Linux and Emacspeak =================================================== There are several email clients available in Emacspeak. The Gnus utility can actually be used for both email and news. Type M-x, gnus to start Gnus, then type M to use the mail client. The easiest tool to use is RMAIL. To send a message using RMAIL, just type C-x, m within Emacspeak. Fill in the To: and Subject: fields. Put the body of the message below the line that reads -text follows this line-. You can send the message when you are finished by typing: C-c, C-c To read a message using RMAIL type: M-x, rmail For more information on using RMAIL please see http://www.gnu.org/manual/emacs-20.3/html_chapter/emacs_31.html. Browsing the Web using Linux and Emacspeak ========================================== You will need to download William Perry's w3 browser from ftp://people.redhat.com/jlamb. You can install the package from the FTP site after you log in as root and type rpm -ivh ftp://people.redhat.com/jlamb/w3-4.0pre.44-1.i386.rpm Once the package is installed, restart Emacspeak and type M-x, w3 to start the browser. This will open the default homepage. For more information on w3 including a tutorial and command explanation, please read through the information on the default home page, http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html. Using Emacspeak to execute Linux shell commands =============================================== You will not have to leave Emacspeak to execute a Linux command. To execute a command within Emacspeak, type ESC ! then enter the name of the command you would like to run when Emacspeak prompts you. To exit the command output window type: C-x, 1 This functionality is extremely useful. You can even print and compile files you are working on within Emacspeak. For more information on Linux shell commands please see Josh's Linux Guide (http://jgo.local.net/LinuxGuide/linux-commands.html) or any other comparable command resource. Where can I find more information on Linux accessibility? ========================================================= The following documents offer helpful suggestions for making Linux more accessible: * Linux Access HOW-TO http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Access-HOWTO.html * Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html These links may also be helpful: * Speakup Homepage http://www.braille.uwo.ca/speakup/ * Project Ocularis http://ocularis.sourceforge.net/events.php * Trace Center http://trace.wisc.edu/ * Blinux http://leb.net/blinux/