From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from bay0-omc2-s41.bay0.hotmail.com ([65.54.246.177]) by speech.braille.uwo.ca with esmtp (Exim 3.36 #1 (Debian)) id 1HVrm9-0005pz-00 for ; Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:10:29 -0400 Received: from hotmail.com ([65.55.152.25]) by bay0-omc2-s41.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2668); Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:09:58 -0700 Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:09:58 -0700 Message-ID: Received: from 71.111.93.108 by BAY141-DAV15.phx.gbl with DAV; Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:09:55 +0000 X-Originating-IP: [71.111.93.108] X-Originating-Email: [z_kline@hotmail.com] X-Sender: z_kline@hotmail.com From: "Zachary Kline" To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." References: <20070326153646.GA3889@riley> Subject: Re: speakup desktop again Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:07:34 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3028 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 26 Mar 2007 16:09:58.0958 (UTC) FILETIME=[33AB3CE0:01C76FC1] X-BeenThere: speakup@braille.uwo.ca X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Id: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:10:30 -0000 Howdy, Emacspeak--http://emacspeak.sf.net--is already a way to speech interface with Emacs. It does work with Emacs W3, which does lack some features, I admit. But, nevertheless, it does exist and does work. Another option that I heard recently mentioned on another list was FireVox. (I can't remember the URL off hand, but do a Google search for FireVox, and you'll find it. A bit of trouble to set up, but it's dueable, and does handle a lot of web browsing needs.) I personally like Emacspeak--at least so far--but am open to new ideas as well. The way I see it, subverting the way existing applications work--or for instance controling X from the console--isn't really the way to go. Orca and the like should be encouraged to keep going, because the way I see things it's only a matter of time before those efforts succeed. Respectfully yours, and hope this helps some, Zack. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Moore" To: Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 8:36 AM Subject: speakup desktop again > Hello, > I saw this topic on the speakup list recently and followed the > discussion with interest. > > I'd classify myself as a happy linux user. When I was working I more or > less had to use windows to conform to the culture of my employer. Even > if linux alternatives were available, convincing the IT staff that > accessing their network with "non-standard" software would somehow > compromise their security would not have been > an easy task. Now that I am retired, I find that the linux text console > satisfies most of my computer needs except for web browsing. So I still > need to boot up the ms windows to access some web pages when I need to > order something online or listen to audio streams. > > While reading this discussion, it occurred to me that we already have a > text-based desktop environment in the form of emacs. What emacs lacks > is an up-to-date web browser. While I've read comments on the w3 > browser, most of them are not favorable. What emacs does have, however, > is buffers and robust editing features. If, there were a way to say, > run firefox in a X session and control it from an emacs environment, > would this not fill the gap? > > Let me take this a step further. We're all aware of the effort to make > the gnome desktop accessible. This is a major undertaking and involves > retooling many applications to use the gtk+ archa tecture to expose > their contents. It further involves developing screen readers to > retrieve this information and speak it in some usable format. To-date I > am aware of three such screen readers: gnopernicus, orca and lsr. Work > on the first appears to have stopped while work on the latter two is > still underway. > > This brings me back to the emacs environment. Much of the work on the > above screen readers centers on developing speech and braille output > facilities. Orca for example, has an on-screen dialog for > modifying speech, braille an magnification parameters. If the screen > readers were designed to communicate with emacs, the spoken content > would appear in an emacs buffer and the applications could be controlled > from a text console. If this approach had been taken, all the effort > put into developing the braille and speech facilities would have been > unnecessary. > > I'm looking for volunteers to investigate the prospect of > communicating > with X applications from a console environment. While it would be nice > to use the entire gnome desktop, my initial focus would probably on web > browsing since there is a definite gap in this area. > > Feel free to comment on the speakup list or to me directly. If such a > group were to be be formed it would probably make sense to start a > separate mailing list or other vehicle for sharing ideas. > > Chris > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup >