the developer of the full release of Speak Up 1.0, kirk reiser,announces
his Linux access solution for the blind below.  He also discusses the
limitations and planned improvements.  this is an important step forward
on the march toward full desktop access to Linux and its applications.

Kelly



From: Kirk Reiser < [log in to unmask]>

Announcing the first stable release, speakup v-1.00

Speakup is a screen review package for the Linux operating
system. It allows you to hear all output directed to the console
and move around the screen using the typical screen review
functions.

This is a stable release by popular vote on the speakup mailing
list. Which means it is by no means complete but seems stable and
has been well tested.

It is quite usable in it's current incarnation though, with the
blaring lack of cursor output support. That means in an editor it
doesn't read each line as you move up and down the screen. It
tracks the cursor so you just need to do a say current line but
it doesn't do it all by itself. There is more to be said for
cursor tracking and speaking than meets the ear at first glance.

Speakup is a set of kernel patches which means you should have
some experience with kernel compiling. It currently works on the
Linux kernels 2.2.18 and 2.4.xx and above. As of this release we
are at kernel level 2.2.19 and 2.4.12.

What's new in v-1.00? A synth driver array which allows multiple
synths to be built-in to the kernel. There is a new kernel
command line switch speakup_synth=xxxx which allows synthesizer
selection at boot time. Speakup now has /proc/speakup entries for
controlling synth options such as rate and volume. Speakup now
supports a number of various synthesizers including the
DoubleTalk PC, the LiteTalk and DoubleTalk LT, the Accent PC and
SA, the Artic Transport, the Speakout, Dectalks external and
Express, the Audapter, the Braille 'N Speak and the Apollo2. The
current version is now configurable within the make config system
which will make installation much more straight forward. Another
new feature is that speakup comes with an install script which
will apply the patches automatically and keep backups for
upgrading from cvs in the future.

The new features include:

The /proc/speakup configuration system, The ability to turn
keyboard echo on or off, A /proc/speakup/bell_pos file to provide
a beep at a specified position on a line. Experimental cursor
tracking announcement, The ability to turn speakup totally off in
individual consoles, User defined extended character support,
Rudimentary support for other screen review software through the
/dev/synth device. A block and paste function to provide text
copying between virtual consoles.

There is a mailing list for speakup which you are welcome to join
if you are interested in it's on going development. You can
subscribe to the mailing list by sending a message to
[log in to unmask] with a line in the body of the
message like this:

subscribe

The mailing list is currently a very low traffic forum so you
probably won't be overwhelmed with mail, although that is
changing as more and more blind people discover Linux. You can
also subscribe to the mailing list by following the links on the
web page.

The official speakup distribution point is

ftp://linux-speakup.org/pub/linux/speakup. The ftp area includes
all of the current speakup files and utilities. It also includes
a subdirectory containing older versions of speakup. There is a
new directory tree which contains the base debian installation
disks with speakup already installed, as well as boot images for
Redhat and Slackware. So if you have any of the supported synths
you can down load the disk images and install your entire system
with speech. The installation disks currently contain speakup
version-0.10a but those will probably be upgraded soon.

We are in the middle of writing a set of web pages for speakup.
You can check them out at http://www.linux-speakup.org. We would
like to hear what you think of them and will gladly consider
recommendations on their improvement. We have what we consider a
way cool logo for the speakup project as well, it would be nice
to hear your opinions on that also.

Speakup is written by Kirk Reiser and Andy Berdan. It is covered
by the GPL (GNU General Public License).

So, like I think that's about it. If you have any questions feel
free to write me at [log in to unmask] If you have any of the
synths now covered by speakup, we could really use your feedback.
If you are just dying to get involved in a software project, boy
do we have a bridge to sell you! 'grin'


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