Linux Accessibility Solutions
=============================
Copyright © 2003 by Red Hat, Inc.

Abstract
========

There are approximately 500 million people worldwide with some kind of
visual, hearing, or mobility impairment. There are currently over 54
million people with disabilities in the US alone and that number is
significantly increasing as the baby boomer generation continues to
age. People with disabilities often find it extremely difficult to
effectively use existing and emerging technologies designed without regard
to their needs. Websites with inaccessible content can also be problematic
for screen readers and other specialized devices used by the disabled
community.

Accessible features have been voluntarily integrated into operating
systems, Web interfaces and other technologies because of marketing
potential or because it was "the right thing to do." Equal access to
educational, professional and recreational technologies is rapidly becoming
a legal requirement. Federal agencies in numerous countries are formulating
accessibility standards. Federal requirements in the United States went
into effect in June 2001.

There are specialized hardware devices, applications and utilities
available that considerably increase the usability of Linux for individuals
with special needs.


This document covers the following topics:
==========================================

* Why should people choose Fedora Core as an accessibility solution?
* The Section 508 Mandate
* The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
* Available open source tools, utilities and drivers
* Using Speakup with Fedora Core
* Using Emacspeak and Festival with Fedora Core
* Reading news using Fedora Core and Emacspeak
* Sending and reading email using Fedora Core and Emacspeak
* Browsing the Web using Fedora Core and Emacspeak
* Using Emacspeak to execute Fedora Core shell commands
* Using BRLTTY with Fedora Core
* Finding more information on Linux accessibility


Why should people choose Fedora Core 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.

Fedora Core (and its predecessor Red Hat Linux) is an extremely popular
Linux distribution; most industry professionals are familiar with it,
making it relatively straightforward to find assistance if necessary.

Red Hat provides the up2date client and Red Hat Network. These services
simplify file management and make it easier to effortlessly keep their
computers secure and up to date.


The Section 508 Mandate
=======================

The Section 508 Mandate is an addendum to the Rehabilitation Act of 1998
that requires federal agencies to use accessible electronic and information
technologies so that people with special needs have the same opportunities
as everyone else.

For detailed information about the requirements of the Section 508 Mandate,
visit this link:

http://www.section508.gov/


The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
===================================================

The VPAT template details how a particular product or service conforms to
Section 508 criteria. The VPAT helps federal personnel adhere to Section
508 by helping them determine whether they are buying the most accessible
IT products and services available. The VPAT template participation by
private vendors is voluntary. These templates are hosted on the individual
vendor websites. The vendors maintain their own information and the
government does not endorse this information in any way.  For more
information on these templates, contact the legal department at Red Hat
Inc.


Available open source tools, utilities and drivers
==================================================

Current development is focusing on visual and mobility impairments. There
are both software and hardware based solutions available. There are also
both console and graphic solutions available, however, the graphic
solutions are limited at this time. The GNOME Accessibility Project is
making great progress bringing the Gnome desktop up to speed.

For more information about the GNOME Accessibility Project, visit:

http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/ 


The KDE Accessibility Project is simultaneously working to make sure the
KDE desktop is accessible as well.

For more information about the KDE Accessibility Project, visit:

http://accessibility.kde.org/


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 integrated by the community into "upstream"
software projects before becoming part of Fedora Core.

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 website or linked within the Emacspeak HOWTO

The Emacspeak HOWTO is available online at:

http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html

For more information on Emacspeak, visit:

http://emacspeak.sf.net/


Software
==========

This document focuses mostly on software tools and utilities that work with
Linux. Most of these tools have been developed by the Open Source community
and many have not yet been tested by Red Hat, Inc. Speakup, Emacspeak,
Festival and BRLTTY have been tested by Red Hat. Festival and Emacspeak
ships with Red Hat Linux 7.3 and later releases (including Fedora
Core). The following list of downloadable tools provide various functions:

* Software Speech Synthesizers:
        IBM ViaVoice Outloud
        Festival
        MBROLA
        Emacspeak

* Magnification Tools:
        xzoom
        SVGATextMode

* Speech Recognition Software:
        IBM ViaVoice
        cvoicecontrol
        Xvoice

* Screen Readers:
        Screader
        Speakup

BRLTTY
Visual Bells
Keyboard Tools
AccessX
StickyKeys
GTKeyboard

Using Speakup with Fedora Core
================================

Speakup is a GPL screen review package written by Kirk Reiser and Andy
Berdan. Speakup gives users with visual or mobility impairments the ability
to have audible console feedback using a speech synthesizer. Red Hat
recommends Speakup for blind users because it provides an audible
installation and is fully supported by the blind open source community.

William F. Acker currently maintains the Speakup packages for the Red Hat
distribution. His contributions to the open source community and to blind
Linux users have been outstanding.

Speakup works with the following hardware synthesizers:

  DoubleTalk PC/LT
  LiteTalk
  Accent PC/SA
  Speakout
  Artic Transport
  Audapter
  Braille 'N Speak / Type 'N Speak
  Dectalk External and Express
  Apollo2

For instructions on using Speakup with Fedora Core, visit:

http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/HOWTO_INSTALL.html

For more information about Speakup, or to contribute to the Speakup project
visit:

http://www.linux-speakup.org


Using Emacspeak with Fedora Core
==================================

Before using Emacspeak, you should familiarize yourself with some
documentation. Start with "A Gentle Introduction to Emacspeak" by Gary
Lawrence Murphy, which is available online at:

http://emacspeak-guide.sourceforge.net/

The Emacspeak HOWTO written by Jim Van Zandt is also a very good resource,
although the document is limited to the Slackware distribution. The
Emascspeak HOWTO is available online at:

http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html


Reading news using Fedora Core 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. To post and read
news through Emacspeak, refer to http://www.gnus.org/ for manuals,
tutorials, HOWTOs, and more. To start Gnus, type the following command.
Note that "M-x" means to hold down the [Meta] key (often labeled [Alt])
while simultaneously pressing the [x] key:

M-x gnus

This command displays all the newsgroups you are subscribed to. To select a
newsgroup, highlight your selection and press the space bar. Next, specify
how many articles you would like to open. Type the number you desire and
press [Enter]. This splits 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, visit:

http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html


Sending and reading email using Fedora Core 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, type the
following command.  Note that "C-x" means to hold down the [Ctrl] key while
simultaneously pressing the [x] key:

C-x m

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 visit:

http://www.gnu.org/manual/emacs-20.3/html_chapter/emacs_31.html


Browsing the Web using Fedora Core and Emacspeak
==================================================

You must download William Perry's w3 browser:

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 the following
command:

M-x w3

This starts the browser and opens the default homepage. For more
information on w3 including a tutorial and command explanation, read
through the information on the default home page, available online at:

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html


Using Emacspeak to execute Linux shell commands
===============================================

You do not have to leave Emacspeak to execute a Linux command. To
execute a command within Emacspeak, type

ESC !

and 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 refer to Josh's Linux Guide or any other comparable command
resource.

Josh's Linux Guide is available online at:

http://jgo.local.net/LinuxGuide/linux-commands.html


Using BRLTTY with Fedora Core
===============================

BRLTTY provides access to the Linux command line for blind people using
refreshable braille displays. The tool provides complete screen review
functionality and minimal speech capability. BRLTTY has been tested by Red
Hat Inc. and is available in RPM format. For information and documentation
on BRLTTY, visit the following link:

http://mielke.cc/brltty/


Finding more information on Linux accessibility
===============================================

The following documents offer helpful suggestions for making Linux
more accessible:

Linux Accessibility HOWTO
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Accessibility-HOWTO/index.html

Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html


Additional links which may be helpful include:

The Speakup Homepage
http://www.braille.uwo.ca/speakup/

Trace Center
http://trace.wisc.edu/

Blinux
http://leb.net/blinux/
