From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (qmail-queue invoked by uid 0); 1 Aug 1996 16:17:36 -0000 MBOX-Line: From mikedlr@it.com.pl Thu Aug 1 18:17:06 1996 Received: (qmail-queue invoked by uid 504); 1 Aug 1996 16:06:28 -0000 Received: (qmail-queue invoked from smtpd); 1 Aug 1996 16:06:16 -0000 Received: from cublx2.cube.net (194.97.64.61) by goldfish.cube.net with SMTP; 1 Aug 1996 16:06:10 -0000 Received: from zloty.it.com.pl ([194.92.142.4]) by cublx2.cube.net with ESMTP id <24627-322>; Thu, 1 Aug 1996 09:43:49 +0100 Received: from wolfgang.it.com.pl (dialup-231.it.com.pl [194.92.142.231]) by zloty.it.com.pl (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id JAA00624; Thu, 1 Aug 1996 09:40:37 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from wolfgang.it.com.pl ([127.0.0.0]) by wolfgang.it.com.pl (8.7.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id JAA01140; Thu, 1 Aug 1996 09:21:33 +0200 Message-Id: <199608010721.JAA01140@wolfgang.it.com.pl> To: blinux-list@goldfish.cube.net cc: Oedipus Wrecked , Jim Van Zandt Subject: Answers to various people / Updated proposal / I'm gone Date: Thu, 01 Aug 1996 09:21:32 +0200 From: Michael De La Rue List-Id: > first, a question: is access-howto@ed.ac.uk an alias or an emailing list? Errr. a mailing list containing just me. Basically it's just used for filtering my mail into different boxes right now, but I assume that if somone sends to that address they aren't sending me a personal mail, so I could pass it on without permission, and potentially in the long run the address could become a mailing list if that turns out to be the best way to maintain the Access HOWTO. I'll mention explicitly if it ever does become a mailing list. Okay, here's a revised version of the document. I've just accepted all of the changes that people suggested. I have no problems with them. I'm also keen to see this proposal distributed, though if we do that we are committing, in a way, to fullfilling something. I think though (given the number of people who seem to help and the amount that has been done so far by people like T.V. Raman and the BRLTTY team) that that should be possible. J.V.Z Thanks for the patch.. It fitted straight in with one command (show -nosh | patch vis.*.html).. this is what we like to see. Here we go again. This will clash slightly with the version on the Web, but at least shows what I have so far. I'll fix that when I come back if needed. Odeipus, if you want to take over maintainance of this, certainly for right now, feel free. I've added a copyright message at the bottom to make it clear it can be distributed and modified. Next:- I'm just sending off an update to the Access HOWTO. I'm mentioning Jim's installation guide so that people can know about it. If possible could it be put up for people to read on the WWW, at least until we get it into some printed form as well. Next:- I'm away climbing for the next cople of days. This is the last message I'll send before that. Michael Documenting Linux For the Visually Impaired ( 1-Aug-1996)

Documenting Linux For the Visually Impaired

Once a visually impaired person has Linux working, all of the documentation needed is available online and he or she can read it using a normal screen reading system. The problem is that in order to set Linux up, you need access to the documentation. This is an attempt enough documentation available to the visually impaired to get them to them to that stage. The aim is to eliminate the need for another computer to be set up so that the blind user can read the documentation, so that, at the very least, the documentation will be available to a blind or visually impaired person with only one computer while he or she is installing linux.

Target Documents

Only certain documents are needed as targets for this project. These are introductory material, installation material and material which should allow someone to restart a non functional computer. At present the documents suggested are

The Linux Info Sheet: This is the document which introduces Linux for someone who has never heard of it before and is needed to allow people to find out whether they want it or not.
The Meta FAQ: This document covers other sources of information about Linux. In other words, if you want to find something out, you start here and from here find the document with the information you need.
The Linux Installation HOWTO: This document is the one which will cover not just installation, but most of what is needed for reinstallation in the case of a serious crash of some kind. Unfortunately it's somewhat outdated and we may need more specific `per distribution' installation information instead.
The Linux Access HOWTO: This covers adaptive technology under Linux, and may well be needed to allow the visually impaired to choose the hardware they want to buy as well as setting it up correctly to allow the use of Linux.
The Linux FAQ: This is a complete list of `Frequently Asked Questions' about linux. It is a very long document and covers much detail. It would hopefully not be needed in this form for most users, but the probability is that someone will find the need and when they do it will be important.

Documents that need to be specially created

Designing a Linux Setup: This should cover the basics of choosing Linux hardware from the perspective of a blind or visually impaired user.
Beginning to use Linux: This is probably the most difficult and important document, one covering the way in which people should begin to use Linux. The needs of users vary considerably here, depending on their previous experience, but in the worst case, a near vertical `learning curve' must be got around before the user can begin to get into linux. This should be a step by step guide to the process, possibly based on the DOS2Linux Mini HOWTO as well as the Access HOWTO.

Other possibilities for inclusion are suggested below.

Linux HOWTO Index: This indexes all of the other HOWTOs in more detail than the META FAQ. Since the collection suggested above is reasonably small, I think this probably won't be needed except online.
Linux Kernel HOWTO: This covers altering the Linux Kernel. Unfortunately this may be needed by some people to be able to use Linux effectively. How they are going to get to the stage of being able to use this HOWTO without a working Linux setup I don't know..

Formats

The aim is to have these documents available in Braille and audio formats. Neither one of these formats covers everyone, because there are visually impaired people who cannot read Braille and there are deaf-blind people who cannot use audio formats. Both are needed.

If the audio format is being produced for a media like CD which supports semi-random access, then considerable effort should be put in to make use convenient. In the case of CD, I would guess that the best way is to make each HOWTO and each section of the FAQ a different track and use divisions within tracks for each question (yes these do exist; not all CD players support them, but many CD players don't support having more than 10 tracks well).

Specially Labeled Boot Disks

Most versions of the Linux operating system are designed to be booted from a floppy disk. In order to allow this to be done by a visually impaired person, we suggest specially labeled boot disks. These should be in dual format. A large type label should be overprinted with Braille. This has the advantage of covering visually impaired (not blind n.b.) people who cannot read Braille and making handling easy for producers who are not visually impaired. Don't get the labels confused. Hopefully a system can be devised to make it easy for sighted volunteers to check that Braille matches text?

What needs done

Speaking the Texts

There is a large amount of text which needs to be recorded by someone with a reasonably clear voice. It's possible that some of this is better done with a high quality speech synthesiser?

The texts should each be broken up as structured so that the audio translation can be edited later to match any changes that occur. Particularly in the FAQ, section numbers change regularly and should be kept separate from anything else.

Presumably digital recording should be used, both because of the community, computer users, that this is aimed at and because of the large amount of editing that will need to be done.

Audio Duplication

Probably CD should be the main format for distribution. There are a large number of people in the Linux community who use and have experience with the technology. (Others are pushing for the standard eight track - extremely long playing tapes as the best format. I still say that recording to digital may well be worthwhile)

The license on the recordings should be such that local re-recording onto tape is a guaranteed right. Probably some variant of the GNU Public License.

Braille Conversion

The most important task would be to add a Braille output mode to the package which is used to format the HOWTOs. Since this is an SGML variant (linuxdoc-sgml) this should be relatively easy. In Braille translation ease is always relative. I have a lot to find out about the specification of grade 2 Braille before this can be done. I think that looking into getting recode (from GNU) to do some of this would be very useful.

Braille Printing

Braille printing is somewhat expensive and requires specialised hardware. Once source is available, hopefully some commercial entity or charity covering the visually impaired should be able to do this.

Repeating this project in other Languages

If this project is repeated in another language then mostly the procedure should be the same as the one described here. The main difference is that for languages with a specific HOWTO related to that language, it should probably be translated too. Examples are the Linux Italian HOWTO and the possibly the Linux JE HOWTO for Japanese.

Obviously, handling Linux documentation in other languages is done best if the complete set of normal documentation has already been translated to those languages. I believe that Japanese, German, Italian and French are the closest to this.

Copyright

This document is copyright Michael De La Rue. It may be distributed in any format and modified in any way as long as a) this copyright is maintained in tact on any copies distributed b) any modifications are clearly ttributed to the person who makes those modifications.