dectalk or double talk advice

dectalk or double talk advice

[Cody Hurst]

Hi,

  I am really in a bind here. I don't have a synth and will be needing
one for my networking course I'll be taking next year. For this purpose,
I'll need an external synth and don't really know anything about each
dectalk or double talk. I can easily borrow one, but first I'd like to
know which one would be more recommended. First I'll be doing installs
of Suse 9.x or maybe 10.x not sure yet, and netware. I am not sure if I
need special screen reading software that is always built into a kernel
such as speakup for double talk or dectalk to always work. I was just
checking mail and saw someone received their double talk in the mail and
said they'd try an install of slackware. I have no idea how slackware is
with accessibility, but I really need help on a decision before
september and what I should look into borrowing.

  Does this mean that either one of these will work in reading text
allowed even if no special software is installed? I couldn't imagine
this one but maybe I'm wrong.

Which port is more commonly used, serial or USB? I can't use an internal
double talk pc since I'll be moving from station to station most likely
and will want something portable. I have widdled it down to these two,
but please let me know if there are any better alternatives. Basically I
want to be able to take it out of the box, plug it in, and be able to
boot my pc, and have speech be spoke with as little issues as possible
and from what I hear, double talk is probably the way to go on this one.

Thanx,
Cody

Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Littlefield, tyler]

First, you're not going to get speech support without a program.
The screen reader puts hooks in the kernel, or catches the video in the case 
of jaws, and translates.
Next, I'd recommend USB, because, if you start using newer systems, most 
don't have a serial port.
Third, the accessibility of slackware is fine, unless you insist on running 
under gnome, x, or something else, then you're really not getting the 
benafit of linux.
HTH,
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cody Hurst" <churst35@verizon.net>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 12:11 AM
Subject: dectalk or double talk advice


> Hi,
>
>  I am really in a bind here. I don't have a synth and will be needing
> one for my networking course I'll be taking next year. For this purpose,
> I'll need an external synth and don't really know anything about each
> dectalk or double talk. I can easily borrow one, but first I'd like to
> know which one would be more recommended. First I'll be doing installs
> of Suse 9.x or maybe 10.x not sure yet, and netware. I am not sure if I
> need special screen reading software that is always built into a kernel
> such as speakup for double talk or dectalk to always work. I was just
> checking mail and saw someone received their double talk in the mail and
> said they'd try an install of slackware. I have no idea how slackware is
> with accessibility, but I really need help on a decision before
> september and what I should look into borrowing.
>
>  Does this mean that either one of these will work in reading text
> allowed even if no special software is installed? I couldn't imagine
> this one but maybe I'm wrong.
>
> Which port is more commonly used, serial or USB? I can't use an internal
> double talk pc since I'll be moving from station to station most likely
> and will want something portable. I have widdled it down to these two,
> but please let me know if there are any better alternatives. Basically I
> want to be able to take it out of the box, plug it in, and be able to
> boot my pc, and have speech be spoke with as little issues as possible
> and from what I hear, double talk is probably the way to go on this one.
>
> Thanx,
> Cody
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup 

Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Gregory Nowak]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

First, the operating systems mentioned were suse linux, and
netware. There was no mention of windows, thus I don't see how the
reference to jaws fits in, unless it was to explain how jaws gets its
data, which is besides the point.

Also, the reference to usb being the better choice was
inappropriate, since speakup currently doesn't support usb synths, as has
been mentioned here frequently, especially in recent threads. Having
said that, if you're going to rely on speakup, you will want to be
sure that all the work stations you're going to use have at least 1
rs232 serial port. If they don't, then you're in trouble if you
expect to use speakup.

Also, be aware that suse doesn't include speakup in their
distribution, and I'm not aware of any existing suse kernels with
speakup patched into them. You mentioned also not being sure about the
accessibility of slackware. Actually, slackware was the first
distribution to include a speakup-patched kernel in the official
slackware media.

As for which synth to choose, I think the 2 biggest factors in that
decision are the speech, and the price of each. The doubletalk lt is
cheaper than the dectalk usb, which does also have a serial port as
far as I know. As for the speech, I personally prefer that of the
doubletalk, but that's probably because I've used a doubletalk far
more than I have used a dectalk, and others may disagree here as
well. Speech is a very qualitative subject, and there is no synth that
fits every person's taste perfectly. As an aside, you wouldn't have
been able to use a doubletalk pc anyway, because they aren't being produced
anymore, and because it is very hard these days to find a pc with an
isa slot. Hth.

Greg



On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 12:23:06AM -0700, Littlefield, tyler wrote:
> First, you're not going to get speech support without a program.
> The screen reader puts hooks in the kernel, or catches the video in the case 
> of jaws, and translates.
> Next, I'd recommend USB, because, if you start using newer systems, most 
> don't have a serial port.
> Third, the accessibility of slackware is fine, unless you insist on running 
> under gnome, x, or something else, then you're really not getting the 
> benafit of linux.
> HTH,


- -- 
web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
skype: gregn1
(authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)

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Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Cody Hurst]

Hi Greg,

  Thanks for filling me in on Slackware. I will first look into the
double talk lt. I kind of figured serial would have to be my obvious
choice, however I jsut wanted to make sure. These systems are older (not
ancient) but bottom linie they more than likely have a few serials on
them.

  As far as the software part goes, are there any other alternatives to
speakup, so at least I can have a taste of a few if I should ever need
another one. It is just kind of up to me to I guess you could say "fend
for myself" on this course since the school really doesn't know what is
best for me and never has had a visually impaired person in their
networking course. I wish things woud work out of the box but we know
about that.

Thanks,
Cody

On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 12:47 -0700, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> First, the operating systems mentioned were suse linux, and
> netware. There was no mention of windows, thus I don't see how the
> reference to jaws fits in, unless it was to explain how jaws gets its
> data, which is besides the point.
> 
> Also, the reference to usb being the better choice was
> inappropriate, since speakup currently doesn't support usb synths, as has
> been mentioned here frequently, especially in recent threads. Having
> said that, if you're going to rely on speakup, you will want to be
> sure that all the work stations you're going to use have at least 1
> rs232 serial port. If they don't, then you're in trouble if you
> expect to use speakup.
> 
> Also, be aware that suse doesn't include speakup in their
> distribution, and I'm not aware of any existing suse kernels with
> speakup patched into them. You mentioned also not being sure about the
> accessibility of slackware. Actually, slackware was the first
> distribution to include a speakup-patched kernel in the official
> slackware media.
> 
> As for which synth to choose, I think the 2 biggest factors in that
> decision are the speech, and the price of each. The doubletalk lt is
> cheaper than the dectalk usb, which does also have a serial port as
> far as I know. As for the speech, I personally prefer that of the
> doubletalk, but that's probably because I've used a doubletalk far
> more than I have used a dectalk, and others may disagree here as
> well. Speech is a very qualitative subject, and there is no synth that
> fits every person's taste perfectly. As an aside, you wouldn't have
> been able to use a doubletalk pc anyway, because they aren't being produced
> anymore, and because it is very hard these days to find a pc with an
> isa slot. Hth.
> 
> Greg
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 12:23:06AM -0700, Littlefield, tyler wrote:
> > First, you're not going to get speech support without a program.
> > The screen reader puts hooks in the kernel, or catches the video in the case 
> > of jaws, and translates.
> > Next, I'd recommend USB, because, if you start using newer systems, most 
> > don't have a serial port.
> > Third, the accessibility of slackware is fine, unless you insist on running 
> > under gnome, x, or something else, then you're really not getting the 
> > benafit of linux.
> > HTH,
> 
> 
> - -- 
> web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
> gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
> skype: gregn1
> (authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)
> 
> - --
> Free domains: http://www.eu.org/ or mail dns-manager@EU.org
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
> 
> iD8DBQFGfCdV7s9z/XlyUyARAhQoAKC2pAxtaBHQFbcRxJ7X3YAKxDtHqwCg1nOM
> uSZ2tei1eRwXa/lpYrCpqgg=
> =UAdR
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Alex Snow]

I survived both a Networking course and an Intro to Unix course using 
slackware while everyone else used SuSe.
On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 
04:14:51PM -0400, Cody Hurst wrote:
> Hi Greg,
> 
>   Thanks for filling me in on Slackware. I will first look into the
> double talk lt. I kind of figured serial would have to be my obvious
> choice, however I jsut wanted to make sure. These systems are older (not
> ancient) but bottom linie they more than likely have a few serials on
> them.
> 
>   As far as the software part goes, are there any other alternatives to
> speakup, so at least I can have a taste of a few if I should ever need
> another one. It is just kind of up to me to I guess you could say "fend
> for myself" on this course since the school really doesn't know what is
> best for me and never has had a visually impaired person in their
> networking course. I wish things woud work out of the box but we know
> about that.
> 
> Thanks,
> Cody
> 
> On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 12:47 -0700, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> > 
> > First, the operating systems mentioned were suse linux, and
> > netware. There was no mention of windows, thus I don't see how the
> > reference to jaws fits in, unless it was to explain how jaws gets its
> > data, which is besides the point.
> > 
> > Also, the reference to usb being the better choice was
> > inappropriate, since speakup currently doesn't support usb synths, as has
> > been mentioned here frequently, especially in recent threads. Having
> > said that, if you're going to rely on speakup, you will want to be
> > sure that all the work stations you're going to use have at least 1
> > rs232 serial port. If they don't, then you're in trouble if you
> > expect to use speakup.
> > 
> > Also, be aware that suse doesn't include speakup in their
> > distribution, and I'm not aware of any existing suse kernels with
> > speakup patched into them. You mentioned also not being sure about the
> > accessibility of slackware. Actually, slackware was the first
> > distribution to include a speakup-patched kernel in the official
> > slackware media.
> > 
> > As for which synth to choose, I think the 2 biggest factors in that
> > decision are the speech, and the price of each. The doubletalk lt is
> > cheaper than the dectalk usb, which does also have a serial port as
> > far as I know. As for the speech, I personally prefer that of the
> > doubletalk, but that's probably because I've used a doubletalk far
> > more than I have used a dectalk, and others may disagree here as
> > well. Speech is a very qualitative subject, and there is no synth that
> > fits every person's taste perfectly. As an aside, you wouldn't have
> > been able to use a doubletalk pc anyway, because they aren't being produced
> > anymore, and because it is very hard these days to find a pc with an
> > isa slot. Hth.
> > 
> > Greg
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 12:23:06AM -0700, Littlefield, tyler wrote:
> > > First, you're not going to get speech support without a program.
> > > The screen reader puts hooks in the kernel, or catches the video in the case 
> > > of jaws, and translates.
> > > Next, I'd recommend USB, because, if you start using newer systems, most 
> > > don't have a serial port.
> > > Third, the accessibility of slackware is fine, unless you insist on running 
> > > under gnome, x, or something else, then you're really not getting the 
> > > benafit of linux.
> > > HTH,
> > 
> > 
> > - -- 
> > web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
> > gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
> > skype: gregn1
> > (authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)
> > 
> > - --
> > Free domains: http://www.eu.org/ or mail dns-manager@EU.org
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> > Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
> > 
> > iD8DBQFGfCdV7s9z/XlyUyARAhQoAKC2pAxtaBHQFbcRxJ7X3YAKxDtHqwCg1nOM
> > uSZ2tei1eRwXa/lpYrCpqgg=
> > =UAdR
> > -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
But what can you do with it?
	-- ubiquitous cry from Linux-user partner

Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Gregory Nowak]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 04:14:51PM -0400, Cody Hurst wrote:
>   As far as the software part goes, are there any other alternatives to
> speakup, so at least I can have a taste of a few if I should ever need
> another one. 

Well, there are yaser, and jupiter, neither of which I have tried. There
is also emacspeak, which I did try about 5 years ago, and found that
it has a steep learning curve. You should be able to get the web sites
for all 3 by googling. Good luck.

Greg


- -- 
web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
skype: gregn1
(authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)

- --
Free domains: http://www.eu.org/ or mail dns-manager@EU.org
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Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)

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Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Cody Hurst]

I like your approach, the only probablem with this is that I have to
take a novell test and we used suse and netware, so I don't think it
would fly. However I would be interested in your preparation for the
course. What did the course intail? Email me off list. My course deals
with stuff like cisco routers, setting up networks and maintaining them
setting up servers, etc.

Cody
On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 16:22 -0400, Alex Snow wrote:
> I survived both a Networking course and an Intro to Unix course using 
> slackware while everyone else used SuSe.
> On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 
> 04:14:51PM -0400, Cody Hurst wrote:
> > Hi Greg,
> > 
> >   Thanks for filling me in on Slackware. I will first look into the
> > double talk lt. I kind of figured serial would have to be my obvious
> > choice, however I jsut wanted to make sure. These systems are older (not
> > ancient) but bottom linie they more than likely have a few serials on
> > them.
> > 
> >   As far as the software part goes, are there any other alternatives to
> > speakup, so at least I can have a taste of a few if I should ever need
> > another one. It is just kind of up to me to I guess you could say "fend
> > for myself" on this course since the school really doesn't know what is
> > best for me and never has had a visually impaired person in their
> > networking course. I wish things woud work out of the box but we know
> > about that.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Cody
> > 
> > On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 12:47 -0700, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > > Hash: SHA1
> > > 
> > > First, the operating systems mentioned were suse linux, and
> > > netware. There was no mention of windows, thus I don't see how the
> > > reference to jaws fits in, unless it was to explain how jaws gets its
> > > data, which is besides the point.
> > > 
> > > Also, the reference to usb being the better choice was
> > > inappropriate, since speakup currently doesn't support usb synths, as has
> > > been mentioned here frequently, especially in recent threads. Having
> > > said that, if you're going to rely on speakup, you will want to be
> > > sure that all the work stations you're going to use have at least 1
> > > rs232 serial port. If they don't, then you're in trouble if you
> > > expect to use speakup.
> > > 
> > > Also, be aware that suse doesn't include speakup in their
> > > distribution, and I'm not aware of any existing suse kernels with
> > > speakup patched into them. You mentioned also not being sure about the
> > > accessibility of slackware. Actually, slackware was the first
> > > distribution to include a speakup-patched kernel in the official
> > > slackware media.
> > > 
> > > As for which synth to choose, I think the 2 biggest factors in that
> > > decision are the speech, and the price of each. The doubletalk lt is
> > > cheaper than the dectalk usb, which does also have a serial port as
> > > far as I know. As for the speech, I personally prefer that of the
> > > doubletalk, but that's probably because I've used a doubletalk far
> > > more than I have used a dectalk, and others may disagree here as
> > > well. Speech is a very qualitative subject, and there is no synth that
> > > fits every person's taste perfectly. As an aside, you wouldn't have
> > > been able to use a doubletalk pc anyway, because they aren't being produced
> > > anymore, and because it is very hard these days to find a pc with an
> > > isa slot. Hth.
> > > 
> > > Greg
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 12:23:06AM -0700, Littlefield, tyler wrote:
> > > > First, you're not going to get speech support without a program.
> > > > The screen reader puts hooks in the kernel, or catches the video in the case 
> > > > of jaws, and translates.
> > > > Next, I'd recommend USB, because, if you start using newer systems, most 
> > > > don't have a serial port.
> > > > Third, the accessibility of slackware is fine, unless you insist on running 
> > > > under gnome, x, or something else, then you're really not getting the 
> > > > benafit of linux.
> > > > HTH,
> > > 
> > > 
> > > - -- 
> > > web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
> > > gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
> > > skype: gregn1
> > > (authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)
> > > 
> > > - --
> > > Free domains: http://www.eu.org/ or mail dns-manager@EU.org
> > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> > > Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
> > > 
> > > iD8DBQFGfCdV7s9z/XlyUyARAhQoAKC2pAxtaBHQFbcRxJ7X3YAKxDtHqwCg1nOM
> > > uSZ2tei1eRwXa/lpYrCpqgg=
> > > =UAdR
> > > -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Cody Hurst]

Are there perhaps Braille displays that are supported that I can use
that speech probably won't be able to do?
On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 13:39 -0700, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 04:14:51PM -0400, Cody Hurst wrote:
> >   As far as the software part goes, are there any other alternatives to
> > speakup, so at least I can have a taste of a few if I should ever need
> > another one. 
> 
> Well, there are yaser, and jupiter, neither of which I have tried. There
> is also emacspeak, which I did try about 5 years ago, and found that
> it has a steep learning curve. You should be able to get the web sites
> for all 3 by googling. Good luck.
> 
> Greg
> 
> 
> - -- 
> web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
> gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
> skype: gregn1
> (authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)
> 
> - --
> Free domains: http://www.eu.org/ or mail dns-manager@EU.org
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
> 
> iD8DBQFGfDON7s9z/XlyUyARArP2AJ40CoHCvlG4G/Pj/CP3RM17tp4MoACg2xuX
> VBaZTQ52zoSS1nUrmgZCgpk=
> =cm5d
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: dectalk or double talk advice

[Gregory Nowak]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Yes, there is brltty:

http://mielke.cc/brltty/

As for what displays it does, or doesn't support, I don't know, you'll
need to check the web site for that.

Greg



On Fri, Jun 22, 2007 at 05:05:35PM -0400, Cody Hurst wrote:
> Are there perhaps Braille displays that are supported that I can use
> that speech probably won't be able to do?


- -- 
web site: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org
gpg public key: http://www.romuald.net.eu.org/pubkey.asc
skype: gregn1
(authorization required, add me to your contacts list first)

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Free domains: http://www.eu.org/ or mail dns-manager@EU.org
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