Does anyone have any comments on the Ubuntu distro? I have been playing with it on a virtual machine in XP and find the accesibility in Gnopernicus quite impressive.

Also have been playing with WINE to get some windows apps running under linux. Have had some success with Dasher but EZKeys is proving a little tricky. Is it worth while cutting Mr Gates out of the equation when getting some of the more popular AT software running ? There is a bit of a philosophical debate to be had here as Windows will be the dominant OS for commerce for the forseeable future and would AT users be at a disadvanatge employment wise if the are not well versed in MS products?

Hi,

Linux Journal has a pretty good introductory article on Orca in their March 2008 issue http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9978 . I'm a computer user and programmer not an AT expert though, so I don't know how it compares to other packages.

Steve Lee's comment on using WINE for AT purposes is correct in my opinion. WINE is pretty hit and miss on standard Windows apps and the special characteristics of many AT packages will probably make configuration difficult and sometimes impossible. Also, WINE configuration is not something that average users will be able to tackle (even with the GUI tools), but maybe there would be a possibility of sharing working WINE configurations among the OATS community. I've seen this done with Windows games and it seems to have some merit. The OATS community could work to build a list of configurations that users can try. There are definately problems with the idea (versioning, etc), but I thought I'd throw it out there.

I've tinkered with writing AT software before, but I'm not very experienced in the area. As such, I have a few questions:

Are people trying to run Windows applications on Linux (via WINE) because there are no suitable open source alternatives, or because the Windows versions are more familiar (or both)? Are there other reasons/factors? Is it critical (in your opinions) for Linux to support Windows AT software?

Are there any specific distributions that come set up for AT use right out of the box? If not, would that be something that would be useful? A distro could come with a pre-configured version of WINE that would work with as many common AT apps as possible, and could include all of the Open Source AT apps installed and configured as well. Would that be of interest?

I write for a Linux/Open Source blog http://tillamookrage.blogspot.com/ and I've thought about doing a series of posts on Open Source AT software. If anyone has any requests for AT related posts, please let me know. I can write the article on how to set the software up and the basics of how to use it, but I would need help from the OATS community to test the content and give me feedback. The blog mostly covers Ubuntu derivatives (we use Xubuntu heavily) and Puppy Linux, but we've been known to branch out and use other distributions if the situation calls for it.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jeremy

I am happy to announce the release of Vibuntu 1.0 (aka Vinux) a remaster of the Intrepid Ibex live CD customised to the needs of blind and partially sighted users! It is designed to boot from a live cd or USB memory stick, log you in automatically and then start up the Orca screen-reader. Full-screen magnification can then be activated with a simple keystroke.

The type of magnification on offer depends upon whether you downloaded the 2D or 3D version of Vibuntu. The 2D version only offers basic options but will run on any computer, while the 3D version offers advanced features but requires a powerful 3D graphics card. If you are in any doubt as to which version is best for you or do not require magnification at all I recommend you download the safer 2D version. Vibuntu is available from the following URL's:

http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/vibuntu/Vibuntu-2D-1.0.zip

http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/vibuntu/Vibuntu-3D-1.0.zip

Inside the zip file you will find iso image and a text file containing the md5sum of the iso image (not the zip file).

You can use Vibuntu as a live CD, a portable operating system on a USB memory stick* or you can install it to your hard drive either alongside or as a replacement for Windows. In order to fit all of the accessibility settings on the CD I have had to remove some applications including: The GIMP graphical image manipulation program, the F-Spot photo-manager and the Ekiga voice over IP package. You can easily reinstall these and many more open-source applications if you choose to install it on your hard-drive. I used the RemasterSys package to create Vibuntu and I have included this package on the CD incase you want to make your own customised live CD. N.B. The default username and password is 'orca', and this will be retained even if you install it to your hard-drive, no matter what you type in during the installation process.

(*Using Unetbootin)

I would of course appreciate any feedback on Vibuntu. What do you think of the name? Is it corny enough? Would Vinux be better? Post any feedback good or bad on this thread.


Enjoy yourself,

drbongo

P.S. What follows is a list of keystrokes you can use to control the screen-reader and magnification software. I will only provide a few basic keystrokes for Orca to get you started as they are all listed in the preferences window and are unchanged from the default settings. I have provided an exaustive list of the magnification keystrokes as I have customised them to make them easier to remember!

ORCA...

Open Preferences Window: insert+space
Open Main Menu: alt+F1
Move Through Menu/Text: up, down, left and right
Move Through Form: tab, shift+tab
Toggle Voice On/Off: insert+s
Quit Orca: insert+q

BASIC 2D MAGNIFICATION...

Toggle Magnification On/Off: insert+m
Increase Magnification: insert+(plus)
Decrease Magnification: insert+(minus)

ADVANCED 3D MAGNIFICATION...

Zoom In: win+z (win+left-mouse)
Zoom Out: win+x (win+right-mouse)

Zoom x1: win+1
Zoom x2: win+2
Zoom x4: win+3

Toggle Magnifier Box: win+m
Zoom In Magnifier Box: ctrl+left-mouse
Zoom Out Magnifier Box: ctrl+right-mouse

Resize Window: win+r
Zoom To Window: win+w

ADVANCED 3D MOVEMENT...

Pan Right: win+right
Pan Left: win+left
Pan Up: win+up
Pan Down: win+down

Lock Zoomed Window: win+l

Centre Mouse Pointer: win+c
Toggle Highlight Mouse Pointer: win+h

ADVANCED 3D COLOURS...

Toggle Invert Colours: win+i
Toggle Invert Window Colours: shift+win+i

Toggle Filter Colours: win+f
Toggle Window Filter Colours: shift+win+f
Switch Filter Colours: win+s

Decrease Window Brightness: win+(minus)
Increase Window Brightness: win+(plus)

Decrease Window Saturation: shift+win+(plus)
Increase Window Saturation: shift+win+(minus)

Toggle Dim Inactive Windows: win+d

This list of keystrokes will automatically load into Gedit when Vibuntu boots!