From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Mar 25 23:31:47 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C30F61065670 for ; Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:31:47 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5453E8FC12 for ; Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:31:47 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-185-71.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.185.71]) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 81C181DDD9; Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:24:44 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id q2PNOhcV004541; Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:24:44 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:24:43 +0200 From: Polytropon To: "Barbara La Scala" Message-Id: <20120326012443.3ad290f7.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <834860023a4539687d1ace08f9f5fe27ec202fdf@webmail-beta.netspace.net.au> References: <834860023a4539687d1ace08f9f5fe27ec202fdf@webmail-beta.netspace.net.au> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Off-Topic: Computing for the Blind X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:31:47 -0000 On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:33:05 +1100, Barbara La Scala wrote: > Apologies for the off topic posting but my stepfather is blind and he wants my advice > about how to get online. I have no idea where to start looking for information on hardware > and/or software for him. However, I vaguely remember someone on this list saying they > were visually impaired. If I'm remembering correctly, I'd really appreciate it if that person > would get in touch with me. The "old-fashioned" way to enable blind persons to use a computer for getting online involves a way to read text. This can be done basically in two ways: a) The user has a Braille readout right infront of his keyboard. This is usually a one or two line combination of 40 or 80 characters width, with electromagnetic Braille "mountain matrices" (6 or 8 dot code). This line can display one line of screen text. Which line (out of the 25 on the screen) can be selected by a slider on the side. +------------------------------+ | Suche Bilder Videos Maps News| | | | Google | | Deutschland | <---selection---+ | | | | __________________________ | | | Search Good luck! | | | | | | | | | H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o | | +------------------------------+ | | __ . .... .... .... ... | .. ................__ ... .... | .. _................_ ... .... | .. _...............__ .... | .. __.............___ . .... | .. __._.________._.__ ... __.. | | | :::::::###########::::::::::::: <---output------+ (Deutschland) b) The user uses a similar selection mechanism as with the Braille readout, but a synthetic voice will read the text. Speed and volume can be controlled. (This is also available as a pure software solution!) Most blind persons (I've met) seem to be fine with variant a) as it fits their reading habits, their speed, their experience. The input method of choice is the keyboard, as it (obviously) does not need any visual confirmation. The "travelling distance" for the fingers from typing to reading (and back) is acceptable. For purchasing the hardware, I would suggest to consult the web for some search, and then maybe attend a local specialized store to obtain the devices. They tend to be a bit expensive. Make sure to get hardware specs: How is it connected? Does it require proprietary drivers? Does it work with "normal text screens"? Niche market... :-( Now for the software. In order to get the text to the Braille readout, you need software that runs in text mode. On FreeBSD, this is the default mode (unless you install GUI tools). Getting online is very easy (see The FreeBSD Handbook), and everything you now need is a web browser. Recommendations: links, lynx, w3m. For participating in email, I may recommend alpine (pine), but there are many other powerful text mode mail clients that one could try and find the most comfortable one. Other services, such as IRC, News, or messenger services can also be used. Just to throw some program names into the wild: irc, BitchX, tin, elm, centericq. The ports collection offers a wide choice of programs for FreeBSD. Configure the OS to accomodate to the needs of the Internet connection (DHCP, PPPoE, dial-up, WLAN - whatever is present). A confortable dialog shell is also useful to quickly communicate with the computer and launch the programs that the user wants to use. Maybe a preconfigured environment (with selections such as "mail", "web", "news", "chat" as command words) is a good idea. One last thing: Regarding the "modern" web, don't assume you'll find many pages that are accessible by blind persons. Just try some average web pages in one of the text mode web browsers mentioned. They only work well when the person who has made the web page did pay attention to make it accessible by handicapped users. This is something that is mostly forgotten today, and the tendency with "rich web applications" is that unrestricted access to _content_ will be less and less common. Artificial barriers are raised by "teh Interwebs progammerz" abusing tools (e. g. "Flash" as a replacement for few lines of HTML). The tendency is that it's just getting worse and worse, sadly... I hope I could give you some inspiration on where to start further investigations. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...