Linux Accessibility Solutions
=============================
Copyright � 2003 by Red Hat, Inc.
Abstract
========
There are approximately 500 million people worldwide with some kind of
visual, hearing, or mobility impairment. There are currently over 54
million people with disabilities in the US alone and that number is
significantly increasing as the baby boomer generation continues to
age. People with disabilities often find it extremely difficult to
effectively use existing and emerging technologies designed without
regard to their needs. Websites with inaccessible content can also be
problematic for screen readers and other specialized devices used by
the disabled community.
Accessible features have been voluntarily integrated into operating
systems, Web interfaces and other technologies because of marketing
potential or because it was "the right thing to do." Equal access to
educational, professional and recreational technologies is rapidly
becoming a legal requirement. Federal agencies in numerous countries
are formulating accessibility standards. Federal requirements in the
United States went into effect in June 2001.
There are specialized hardware devices, applications and utilities
available that considerably increase the usability of Linux for
individuals with special needs.
This document covers the following topics:
==========================================
* Why should people choose Red Hat Linux as an accessibility solution?
* The Section 508 Mandate
* The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
* Available open source tools, utilities and drivers
* Using Speakup with Red Hat Linux
* Using Emacspeak and Festival with Red Hat Linux
* Reading news using Red Hat Linux and Emacspeak
* Sending and reading email using Red Hat Linux and Emacspeak
* Browsing the Web using Red Hat Linux and Emacspeak
* Using Emacspeak to execute Red Hat Linux shell commands
* Using BRLTTY with Red Hat Linux
* Finding more information on Linux accessibility
Why should people choose Red Hat Linux as an accessibility solution?
====================================================================
Linux offers an inexpensive and efficient solution for the disabled
community. Open source software costs far less compared to tools that
run on other operating systems and Linux tools are often freely
download-able.
While the Graphic User Interface (GUI) is convenient for sighted
users, it is often inhibiting to those with visual impairments because
of the difficulty speech synthesizers have interpreting
graphics. Linux is a great OS for users with visual limitations
because the GUI is not required by the kernel. Most modern tools
including email, news, Web browsers, calendars, calculators and much
more can run on Linux without the GUI. The working environment can
also be customized to meet the hardware or software needs of the
user.
Red Hat, Inc. is the distribution of choice for people with special
needs because of the outstanding support that Red Hat provides. Many
Linux distributions provide limited or nonexistent support to
customers. Red Hat support is deliverable via email or telephone, and
special circumstances are considered and addressed for users with
physical limitations. The customer should inform the support
technician if they require specialized support.
Red Hat is the leading Linux distribution. Most industry professionals
are familiar with the Red Hat environment. It is not difficult to find
assistance if necessary.
Red Hat provides the up2date client and Red Hat Network. These
services simplify file management and make it easier for customers to
effortlessly keep their computers secure and up to date.
The Section 508 Mandate
=======================
The Section 508 Mandate is an addendum to the Rehabilitation Act of
1998 that requires federal agencies to use accessible electronic and
information technologies so that people with special needs have the
same opportunities as everyone else.
For detailed information about the requirements of the Section 508
Mandate, please see this link:
http://www.section508.gov/
The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
===================================================
The VPAT template details how a particular product or service conforms
to Section 508 criteria. The VPAT helps federal personnel adhere to
Section 508 by helping them determine whether they are buying the most
accessible IT products and services available. The VPAT template
participation by private vendors is voluntary. These templates are
hosted on the individual vendor websites. The vendors maintain their
own information and the government does not endorse this information
in any way. For more information on these templates, please contact
the legal department at Red Hat Inc.
Available open source tools, utilities and drivers
==================================================
Current development is focusing on visual and mobility
impairments. There are both software and hardware based solutions
available. There are also both console and graphic solutions
available, however, the graphic solutions are limited at this
time. The GNOME Accessibility Project is making great progress
bringing the Gnome desktop up to speed.
For more information about the GNOME Accessibility Project, refer
to:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gap/
The KDE Accessibility Project is simultaneously working to make sure
the KDE desktop is accessible as well.
For more information about the KDE Accessibility Project, refer to:
http://accessibility.kde.org/
Hardware
==========
The biggest advantage of the hardware speech solutions is that speech
is available before the OS loads (makes it easier to
install). Hardware solutions include speech synthesizers, braille
terminals, braille printers, sip and puff systems, eye gaze pointing
devices, etc. These devices are usually very expensive and it is
difficult to find drivers for them. Drivers are being written (mostly
for speech synthesizers) for Linux but they need to be tested and
certified before they can be added to Red Hat's Hardware Compatibility
List.
The Hardware Compatibility List is available online at:
http://hardware.redhat.com/
Jim Van Zandt has also written several servers that work with
Emacspeak. These servers can be found in a package called Emacspeak-ss
on Jim Van Zandt's website or linked within the Emacspeak HOWTO
The Emacspeak HOWTO is available online at:
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html
For more information on Emacspeak, refer to:
http://emacspeak.sf.net/
Software
==========
This document focuses mostly on software tools and utilities that work
with Linux. Most of these tools have been developed by the Open Source
community and many have not yet been tested by Red Hat, Inc. Speakup,
Emacspeak, Festival and BRLTTY have been tested by Red Hat. Festival
and Emacspeak ships with Red Hat Linux 7.3 and later releases. The
following list of download-able tools provide various functions:
* Software Speech Synthesizers:
IBM ViaVoice Outloud
Festival
MBROLA
Emacspeak
* Magnification Tools:
xzoom
SVGATextMode
* Speech Recognition Software:
IBM ViaVoice
cvoicecontrol
Xvoice
* Screen Readers:
Screader
Speakup
BRLTTY
Visual Bells
Keyboard Tools
AccessX
StickyKeys
GTKeyboard
Using Speakup with Red Hat Linux
================================
Speakup is a GPL screen review package written by Kirk Reiser and Andy
Berdan. Speakup gives users with visual or mobility impairments the
ability to have audible console feedback using a speech
synthesizer. Red Hat recommends Speakup for blind users because it
provides an audible installation and is fully supported by the blind
open source community.
William F. Acker currently maintains the Speakup packages for the Red
Hat distribution. His contributions to the open source community and
to blind Linux users have been outstanding.
Speakup works with the following hardware synthesizers:
DoubleTalk PC/LT
LiteTalk
Accent PC/SA
Speakout
Artic Transport
Audapter
Braille 'N Speak / Type 'N Speak
Dectalk External and Express
Apollo2
For instructions on using Speakup with Red Hat Linux, refer to:
http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/redhat/HOWTO_INSTALL.html
For more information about Speakup, or to contribute to the Speakup
project please see this link:
http://www.linux-speakup.org
Using Emacspeak with Red Hat Linux
==================================
Before using Emacspeak, you should familiarize yourself with some
documentation. Start with "A Gentle Introduction to Emacspeak" by Gary
Lawrence Murphy, which is available online at:
http://emacspeak-guide.sourceforge.net/
The Emacspeak HOWTO written by Jim Van Zandt is also a very good
resource, although the document is limited to the Slackware
distribution. The Emascspeak HOWTO is available online at:
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html
Reading news using Red Hat Linux and Emacspeak
===============================================
Gnus is the news reader included with Emacspeak. Gnus gets the
appropriate data from the ~/.newsrc file in the user's home
directory. To post and read news through Emacspeak, refer to
http://my.news.org/ or
http://www.gnus.org/ for manuals, tutorials,
HOWTOs, and more. To start Gnus, type the following:
M-x, gnus
This command displays all the newsgroups you are subscribed to. To
select a newsgroup, highlight your selection and press the space
bar. Next, specify how many articles you would like to open. Type the
number you desire and press [Enter]. This splits the screen into two
buffers. The top section is the summary buffer, the bottom section is
the article buffer. You should now be able to read your news. For a
detailed overview of this tool, refer to:
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/vanzandt/Emacspeak-HOWTO.html
Sending and reading email using Red Hat Linux and Emacspeak
===========================================================
There are several email clients available in Emacspeak. The Gnus
utility can actually be used for both email and news. Type
M-x, gnus
to start Gnus, then type
M
to use the mail client.
The easiest tool to use is RMAIL. To send a message using RMAIL, just type
C-x, m
within Emacspeak. Fill in the To: and Subject: fields. Put the body of
the message below the line that reads -text follows this line-. You
can send the message when you are finished by typing:
C-c, C-c
To read a message using RMAIL type:
M-x, rmail
For more information on using RMAIL please see:
http://www.gnu.org/manual/emacs-20.3/html_chapter/emacs_31.html
Browsing the Web using Red Hat Linux and Emacspeak
==================================================
You must download William Perry's w3 browser:
ftp://people.redhat.com/jlamb/
You can install the package from the FTP site after you log in as root
and type:
rpm -ivh
ftp://people.redhat.com/jlamb/w3-4.0pre.44-1.i386.rpm
Once the package is installed, restart Emacspeak and type
M-x, w3
to start the browser. This opens the default homepage. For more
information on w3 including a tutorial and command explanation, read
through the information on the default home page, available online at:
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html
Using Emacspeak to execute Linux shell commands
===============================================
You do not have to leave Emacspeak to execute a Linux command. To
execute a command within Emacspeak, type
ESC !
and then enter the name of the command you would like to run when
Emacspeak prompts you. To exit the command output window type:
C-x, 1
This functionality is extremely useful. You can even print and compile
files you are working on within Emacspeak. For more information on
Linux shell commands please see Josh's Linux Guide or any other
comparable command resource.
Josh's Linux Guide is available online at:
http://jgo.local.net/LinuxGuide/linux-commands.html
Using BRLTTY with Red Hat Linux
===============================
BRLTTY provides access to the Linux command line for blind people
using refreshable braille displays. The tool provides complete screen
review functionality and minimal speech capability. BRLTTY has been
tested by Red Hat Inc. and is available in RPM format. For information
and documentation on BRLTTY, please see the following link:
http://mielke.cc/brltty/
Finding more information on Linux accessibility
===============================================
The following documents offer helpful suggestions for making Linux
more accessible:
Linux Accessibility HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Access-HOWTO.html
Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html
Additional links which may be helpful include:
The Speakup Homepage
http://www.braille.uwo.ca/speakup/
Project Ocularis
http://ocularis.sourceforge.net/events.php
Trace Center
http://trace.wisc.edu/
Blinux
http://leb.net/blinux/
