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/


