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pleroma - Link to source
Is anyone free to help the developer of sway notification center out? I have opened an issue about sway notification center's accessibility regressions in the notification list, and I have also suggested that when the notification appears, the accessible event is fired. The dev doesn't know how to do this however, so any input or PR's that mention this issue would be greatly appreciated! github.com/ErikReider/SwayNoti…
If we get this sorted, we will have a fully accessible notification daemon for all wlroots based compositors, which will soon include XFCE. This could be the Wayland equivalent of notification-daemon for X11, but even better if the GTK notification centre list can be fixed up too. #Linux #accessibility #a11y

Regression in accessibility with the Orca screen reader · Issue #404 · ErikReider/SwayNotificationCenter

Please read through the README and the Man pages before submitting Please also make sure that there isn't any prior issue describing this bug Describe the bug The Orca screen reader is seeing group...
GitHub
#a11y #Accessibility #linux

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Catima 2.29.0 is out!

This release adds support for finding barcodes in PDF files[1] and dealing with multiple barcodes. It also properly colours the status bar during usage now.

As always, it's available on #GitHub, will soon be available on #IzzyOnDroid and will slowly roll out to other app stores.

github.com/CatimaLoyalty/Andro…

[1] Not sandboxed yet, help welcome in github.com/CatimaLoyalty/Andro…

#Catima #OpenSource #Android

Sandbox PdfRenderer in a Service with android:isolatedProcess · Issue #1804 · CatimaLoyalty/Android

The Android documentation for PdfRenderer states: If the file is from an untrusted source it is recommended to run the renderer in a separate, isolated process with minimal permissions to limit the...
GitHub
#android #opensource #github #catima #izzyondroid

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Izzy

That said, my thanks also goes to @obfusk who helps me a lot making #IzzyOnDroid safer. She caught several places in need of improvements, providing patches for some of them and giving advice (and proof-reading) for those I established myself. Some of the scripts used in that area also come from her.

So when thanking me for the repo, please everyone include Sylvia and her as well. Without them it wouldn't be the place it currently is! 😍

Hugs to both of you from me 🤗

#izzyondroid @Fay 🏳️‍🌈
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Orca the Linux screen reader now has a website!

orca.gnome.org/

Thanks to @snwh

And thank you Joannie, @igalia and the community for all the ongoing work and support.

#Linux #GNOME #freedesktop #a11y #accessibility

Orca

Orca is a free, open source, flexible, and extensible screen reader for open desktops.
Orca
#a11y #Accessibility #linux #gnome #freedesktop @Sam Hewitt @Igalia
in reply to Sonny
mastodon - Link to source

Tomodachi94

Looks amazing!

I've updated the homepage linked in Nixpkgs accordingly: github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/…

orca: update homepage URL by tomodachi94 · Pull Request #305462 · NixOS/nixpkgs

Description of changes The wiki.gnome.org URL now redirects to orca.gnome.org. This update reflects that change. Things done Built on platform(s) x86_64-linux aarch64-linux x86_64-darwin aar...
GitHub
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New beta release of Sonata-for-NVDA, formaly known as Piper-for-NVDA
NVDA 2024.1 compatibility
Support for fast variants for Piper voices. These fast variants improves responsiveness significantly because they use streaming synthesis
Improvements to responsiveness and speed across the board
Release page:
github.com/mush42/sonata-nvda/…
Direct download link:
github.com/mush42/sonata-nvda/…

Release v3.0-beta.1 · mush42/sonata-nvda

What's new NVDA 2024.1 compatibility Changed the name to Sonata since we plan to support additional TTS models besides Piper in the future. Support for fast variants for Piper voices. These fast v...
GitHub

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Very impressed with the new Split #Braille Feature in #JAWS. Being able to read Teams chat with half my display whilst typing someplace else is tremendous. They seem to have well thought out the different modes and views. Shame about the cells wasted with the split and lack of customisability of the viewport widths. If I won the lottery I'd throw a few hundred k at #NVDASR for comparable #BrailleDisplay development
#nvdasr #braille #jaws #brailledisplay

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Tamas G

@cublanco oh yeah, the webpage customization features are terrific. (I also haven't quite figured out on all my sites why certain regions are considered a "glance" area, but the method JAWS has for identifying those I would welcome in NVDA too.) It's those slight pamperings that do add up in time you spend doing it manually
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Hot tip of the day, as it's one worth re-posting once in a blue moon: Use MMSYS.cpl after pressing Win+ R, to open the classic version of the sound control panel. From here, you can press the first letter of your sound device and press alt+S to set it as default, or press spacebar to open the property sheet for it. If muted: Press CTRL+tab, tab, spacebar to unmute it, or don't press tab after hitting CTRL+tab, but use arrows to adjust volume directly. Either way, it's sexy, it's old, it works.

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@GTK congrats!

Thank you for the amazing toolkit and all the work that goes into it. ❤️

The progress made in the last year is astonishing

Highlights ✨:

• video/graphics offload
• new graphics renderer
• GtkAccessibleText
• fractional scaling support
• accessibility inspector

I highly recommend reading the GTK blog blog.gtk.org/

#GNOME #GTK

GTK Development Blog – All things GTK

blog.gtk.org
#gnome #gtk @GTK

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Did you know if you press CTRL + ALT + Tab, you can release the keys and the ALT + Tab UI will stay open for you while you pick which window you want to switch to? 👀

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Fun fact: A trip down memory lane: When Hungarian as a voice was added to ESpeak, I was a 15-16 year old kid in high school, and reached out to Jonathan Duddington directly thinking I wouldn't get a response back. Not only did he respond, but he used my recordings of Hungarian text read out to create that voice. Since then other Hungarians have shaped the phonemes, but that story will live down in my mind as a good one. That and I got to talk with Jonathan Duddington, like how cool it was.

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The more I do see the BTSpeak and use it though, the more I understand that it's not just a Raspberry Pi 4. A lot of critiques will say (myself included) that they aren't paying much to produce them, but it does look like the keypad is custom-made for the units with BRLTTY driving that keypad for the experience. Even that alone takes time and R&D to do, so having worked in corporate environments I get the cost and pricing in this regard more and more the deeper I do explore it.

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Tamas G

a lot more goes into this than just a Pi-4. To those critiquing who say, "I could just buy my own Pi4 and do the same things!" you could, but that's if you're technical. The appeal for many folks this has is having that hardware and the R&D for that hardware in one package. Maybe producing them is a few hundred dollars of the cost, but also needing to do this in bulk, injection-mold cases, assemble carrier board +RPI units into the casing, verify hardware units work, pre-program info... A lot.
This entry was edited (Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 3:33 PM)

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in reply to Tamas G
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Tamas G

And while it's true that they are using an open-source board to drive their project and not contributing this back to the community (yet) is a bit of a sore spot for me, but it's also something that could in theory change once they have finished building the system in the product and then over-time open-sourced parts they've built in terms of scripts publicly. Who knows, let's not judge the food before the water for it has even boiled.
in reply to Tamas G
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Tamas G

and really the more I read about the CM4, it's not unreasonable for them to use it in this industrial way. Nothing in utilizing a CM4 says that you then also need to make other aspects of the hardware open-source, like board/ modifications for modules you've added. As an example, they use the wm8960 with the CM4 (waveshare.com/wm8960-audio-hat…), a keypad which drives its own signaling for the 9-key input, battery, and more. It's a lot of small pieces put together into one product

WM8960 Audio HAT for Raspberry Pi, Hi-Fi, Stereo CODEC, Play/Record

www.waveshare.com
This entry was edited (Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 3:59 PM)
in reply to Tamas G
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Drew Mochak

I don't mind that they are using an RPi board, I just wish it was the 5! I know there will always be new versions but these things always feel obsolescent before they're even available.

At the same time, no one complained about the board of the BNS feeling "old," you just wanted it to do more stuff. So I recognize that this too is more of a hobbyist complaint than an actual negative for the device.

in reply to Drew Mochak
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Tamas G

@objectinspace yeah, I wish the CM5 board were released already - sadly there's a delay between the foundation releasing the general-purpose board and then the 32 SKUs or more for the embedded, custom CM4. They could have gone with a slightly higher CM4 with 8 GB ram, but my guess is they expected people to not need that much for a good Linux desktop experience, which isn't wrong either. In theory you could send in units though and get them upgraded with a CM5 swap.
@Drew Mochak
This entry was edited (Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 4:32 PM)
in reply to Tamas G
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Drew Mochak

That's true they could swap out the boards, I hadn't thought of that. If they were willing to do that, that would increase the lifespan of the device quite a bit! They might want to prefer to make a new device though. But that's when I think they would lose people, I can get on the $200 yearly upgrade train but not the $4k-every-two-years-for-a-new-thing train. Hopefully they understand that.
in reply to Drew Mochak
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Pratik Patel

@objectinspace Unless they need to make a significant change to the rest of the hardware, I would hope that these units could be upgraded to the new boards. And now that they're not selling the basic units, which were identical to the pro hardware as I understand, perhaps a combined PMA/SMA could give them a nice source of ongoing revenue.
@Drew Mochak
in reply to Chris Nestrud
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Tamas G

@chrisn @ppatel @objectinspace yeah, that's not an invalid point. I think you could install a smaller passive heatsink that's low-profile and on the CPU, that could help it some but the case may not leave much room for it either right now, I haven't tried. The heat transfers through to the bottom but has not gotten uncomfortably warm for me, just quite toasty during heavy compile operations
@Drew Mochak @Chris Nestrud @Pratik Patel
in reply to Tamas G
gotosocial - Link to source

the esoteric programmer

it's not about the board for me, not at all. The problem is that they're using gpl software, and presumably slightly modifying it to fit their needs. They use mate in desktop mode, they use nano and maybe a gui editor soon, they use brltty, lots and lots of other foss components. Not open sourcing their work on those is a gpl violation if what I think is happening actually does happen, and even if not, it's kinda keeping the status quo and reinforcing the stereotype that assistive technology is expensive because governments and businesses have deep pockets, and it's not actually about the people, while not giving any of it back to the community, at least to the contributors on the backs of which they built their platform. I do like what I heard from the device, I like what's happening if taken in isolation, I just hope there's gonna be a gradual open sourcing of some of the components, especially those which touch gpl code. I'm mostly glad people are making stuff with linux, the OS everyone thought very hostile for blind and VI people, and that more people are discovering and may get some interest in it as time passes.
in reply to the esoteric programmer
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Tamas G

@esoteric_programmer +100 to this! I didn't deeply explore all the modifications, It makes sense that Dave Mielky leads a lot of the developments for it since he's the now-maintainer of BRLTTY as well, so a lot of what drives the underpinnings was done with collaboration of the developer directly. I also get that some of the applications are getting built by other developers, even if these are Python scripts with bash TUI underpinnings that are simpler, Blazie has rights to.
@the esoteric programmer
in reply to the esoteric programmer
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Tamas G

@esoteric_programmer ah yeah, just to them in general, since those pieces of code were contractually developed for the product and constitute its user interface. I'd also be curious as to what extent they had to modify some of those other open-source tools and whether those changes could have potential to be used outside of their product environment (which could add a wrinkle to contributing them back if they are there to accommodate more than just BRLTTY)
@the esoteric programmer
in reply to Tamas G
gotosocial - Link to source

the esoteric programmer

yeah, no one says anything about their own components developed for them, they can open source that...or not, what matters is they should at least follow the gpl and contribute back whatever they modified that's covered by the gpl, doesn't matter the kind of patch and the reason for it. Offtopic for a sec, but does the unit still heat up if you make it go to sleep? if so, I'm assuming the command that's being ran for making it do so is systemctl suspend, isn't it? and when you shut it down with the button, it does a systemctl hybernate, right? if not, in the first case it won't suspend properly, and in the second, without hybernation, it's an actual cold boot every time, which is gonna make the unit turn on as slow as my computer, which is not acceptable for a note taker imo. There are ways to do it without the systemctl commands, but those are the most recommended, universally supported and portable across architectures.
in reply to the esoteric programmer
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Tamas G

@esoteric_programmer yeah, technically it looks like the Power button itself sends a command and executes it through BRLTTY to also lock the rest of the keypad buttons. It's not even S3-sleep though or anything right now, just a keypad lock with background operations continuing or idling at 600 mHZ, whereas holding it down just does a full system shutdown, so your cold boot theory isn't wrong - it's awake in 25 seconds or so in that instance, which is OK but not great.
@the esoteric programmer
friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Today I have found out when enabling subtitles on #youtube the area where the subtitle track is playing is no longer configured as so called live region so youtube subtitles are no longer read automatically with a #screenReader if it's running. I've also looked at #invidious which has aria-live set to off. This is unfortunate as I was expecting this to just work. It can be tested on this video if you like youtu.be/watch?v=3i7gkN-1sAI yewtu.be/watch?v=3i7gkN-1sAI
#youtube #screenreader #invidious
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For NVDA Users: Code Factory's Eloquence-Vocalizer Addon is Now Compatible With NVDA 2024.1 groups.io/g/tech-vi/message/67…

For NVDA Users: Code Factory's Eloquence-Vocalizer Addon is Now Compatible With NVDA 2024.1

groups.io

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I'm giving my talk today at #OSSummit about my work on a new accessibility stack for GNOME and other free desktop environments: sched.co/1aBO1

Modernizing Accessibility for Desktop Linux - Matt Campbell, GNOME Foundation

The desktop Linux ecosystem has changed dramatically since accessibility was first implemented in GNOME over 20 years ago, and even since the accessibility stack was migrated to D-Bus roughly 15 years ago.
sched.co
#OSSummit

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From the Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.: The world at your fingertips: Essential Tech for Travelers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired; Wednesday, April 24, 7:00 PM Eastern Time groups.io/g/tech-vi/message/67…

From the Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.: The world at your fingertips: Essential Tech for Travelers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired; Wednesday, April 24, 7:00 PM Eastern Time

groups.io

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Microsoft announced their latest round of FOSS fund recipients. We're thrilled to share that @NVAccess are among this quarter's recipients. From: github.com/microsoft/foss-fund

"A project of the Microsoft Open Source Programs Office, the FOSS Fund provides up to $10,000 USD in sponsorships to open source projects as selected by Microsoft employees."

Congratulations also to The GNU Compiler Collection, Urllib3, CLAP & MSW.

#OpenSource, #FOSS #Free #Software #NVDA #ScreenReader #Accessibility #A11y

GitHub - microsoft/foss-fund: The Microsoft FOSS Fund provides a direct way for Microsoft engineers to participate in the nomination and selection process to help communities and projects they are passionate about. The FOSS Fund provides $10,000 sponsorsh

The Microsoft FOSS Fund provides a direct way for Microsoft engineers to participate in the nomination and selection process to help communities and projects they are passionate about. The FOSS Fun...
GitHub
#a11y #Accessibility #foss #free #opensource #software #screenreader #nvda @NV Access

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Leo

Now we just need to find a way to run .bas files on the BT Speak. I'm sure something like this might be easy to implement: robhagemans.github.io/pcbasic/

PC-BASIC

Free, cross-platform emulator for the GW-BASIC family of interpreters.
robhagemans.github.io

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friendica - Link to source

Supporting tinkering and general "power user" shenanigans in your software is a genuine accessibility thing tbh. I see some people complaining about Linux users who use a non-systemd init system, X11 instead of wayland, or just generally some "non-standard" configuration. The attitude seems to be that since these users are "smart enough" to stray off the sacred defaults to suit their needs better, there's no need to consider them at all because "they can figure out how to make it work".

Obviously it's not possible to satisfy every accessibility need and use case simultaneously, but it's still harmful to categorically dismiss and actively remove support for a certain group of users just because you perceive them as "gifted nerds". Someone who extensively modifies their system to make it fit their needs may be able to solve the problems you've introduced to their usage of your software on their own, but every single application that needs this extra wrangling adds work and friction to the pile. It's kind of like replacing a wheelchair ramp with stairs because "they have it better than armless amputees, they can just bring a plank of wood with them"—yeah, TECHNICALLY they can do that, but such an arrangement is only desirable if your baseline reference is "being pelted with stones".

Also, while we're on that subject, "just use the defaults" is kind of like suggesting that wheelchair users just get someone to carry them around like a sack of potatoes all day. I don't think it's acceptable to force people to give up more autonomy/control over their lives than they absolutely have to in order to get support, especially in circumstances where a better, more equitable solution could easily be found. Perhaps I'm being somewhat extreme with my comparisons, but it's more about the similar mentalities and attitudes at play, not equating the severity of the access needs.

My overall point is that the split between "software for nerds" and "software for normal people" is due to a difference in use cases and access needs, not just a superiority complex in the minds of either group. You can build software that accommodates both groups, but you have to actually listen to them and not unilaterally dismiss one as egotistical and obstinate. And you should treat choosing not to accommodate either group similarly to choosing to ignore any other access need: necessary in order for you to better serve a specific demographic, perhaps, but certainly not a decision with zero negative consequences.

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I've set up git commit signing with SSH. It was relatively easy, and did not need any GPG cruft.

calebhearth.com/sign-git-with-…

Signing Git Commits with Your SSH Key

If you enjoy this article on Git, also check these other Git tips:
Hearthside

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Matt Campbell

You might want to read this post by @glyph questioning whether signing commits, and more generally unquestioned complexity in the name of security, is a good idea: blog.glyph.im/2024/01/unsigned…

Deciphering Glyph :: Unsigned Commits

Deciphering Glyph, the blog of Glyph Lefkowitz.
blog.glyph.im
@Glyph
in reply to Matt Campbell
mastodon - Link to source

Glyph

@matt Thanks Matt! I should also stress that this is a piece you kinda need to read all the way through. A few people have come away from reading the headline with the idea that I just don't like git commit signing specifically and they should turn it off as opposed to turning it on. For some people, in some situations, it makes perfect sense and it's a fine security primitive. To quote one of the last paragraphs of the blog:

> Git commit signing itself is not particularly consequential

@Matt Campbell
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Demos from Drew Weber: BtSpeak Pro, overview Audio bite-size chunks groups.io/g/tech-vi/message/67…

Demos from Drew Weber: BtSpeak Pro, overview Audio bite-size chunks

groups.io

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As Snikket is still not available on the #Google Play Store, we've published a longer blog post about the situation, how to work around it using #FDroid, and the long path of stupid Google review responses that led us here.

snikket.org/blog/snikket-googl…

Snikket Android app temporarily unavailable in Google Play store

Google have removed the app, citing lack of a privacy policy. This post provides details and a workaround.
snikket.org
#google #fdroid

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Daniel Gultsch

very minor clarification: Google had accepted the version that reinstated the contact permission. This was live for a couple of days/weeks until they suddenly changed their mind. They didn't just outright rejected the update. gultsch.social/@daniel/1120841…

Interesting that you still had contact list integration soft disabled. That confirms that Google believes contact permission == uploads data. Considering how Google makes money that kinda makes sense I guess...

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Ok, so the word "pistol" has a fascinating etymology.

In English it comes from French "pistole", which comes from German "pistole," which originates from Czech "pišt'ala" meaning "whistle" (like a tin whistle or flute).

But in Czech the word for "pistol" is not "pišt'ala." It is, in fact, "pistole." This is a borrow word from either French of Italian "pistole," which comes from German, which comes from Czech "pišt'ala." In effect, the Czech word for "pistol" is a borrow-word-twice-removed from Czech.

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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Dnes si dovolím odkázať na veľmi vydarený český hlas pre hlasový výstup #TTS #RHVoice. Sám autor o tom píše tu: groups.io/g/Blind-android/mess… . O použití pre #Windows #Linux a #Android sa dočítate aj na jednoduchej komunitnej stránke hlas.ondrosik.sk/ . Gro používateľov sú ťažko zrakovo postihnutí používatelia, ktorí si bez kvalitného hlasového výstupu a čítača obrazovky nedokážu svoj digitálny život predstaviť, možno ale aj vám by sa mohol hodiť takýto hlas pre váš počítač či smartfón nezávislí od obrovských korporácií. Mohli by ste ho napr. použiť na čítanie kníh alebo počas navigácii cez GPS.

První veřejná verze hlasu Radek je venku

groups.io
#android #linux #Windows #tts #RHVoice
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Ten years ago today I released version 0.1 of #Conversations_im on the Google Play Store as a paid app.

I believe that I have contributed significantly to normalizing the pay-for-the-binary business model for open source apps.

Ten years ago Conversations was one of the first apps to do this and definitely raised some eyebrows. Nowadays it feels like a pretty common thing.

#conversations_im

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Listen to Samuel Green from Zoom talk about their latest range of audio recorders with new accessibility features doubletaponair.com/new-accessi…

New Accessible Recorders Available From Zoom – Double Tap

doubletaponair.com

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Time to let the cat out of the bag.

I've been working on a new app to use your #Linux phones and tablets as secondary wireless "side displays" (not mirrors). This is based on #GStreamer, x264, #Mutter APIs, and low-latency UDP streaming, and will be designed to work on both ARM and Intel, regardless of hardware acceleration support. (Testing on a #librem5)

This is still at an early stage, and will take some time to become usable. Thoughts and feedback?

#gnome #linuxphones #apps #mobilelinux

#linux #librem5 #apps #gnome #linuxphones #MobileLinux #gstreamer #mutter

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I discovered a new GPS app called WaveOut recently that I am extremely impressed with. It uses directional sound similar to Soundscape, but instead of having the sound come from the direction of your destination, it creates a turn by turn route, and the sound shows you where the next point on your route is. In addition to GPS, it uses your phone's camera to better determine where you are. I tested it on a route where the directions from Google Maps are inaccurate and hard to follow, since there is a confusing roundabout crossing, places where there's only a sidewalk or grass with no street along side, and some very weird intersections, and I've been using Voice Vista, an improved version of Soundscape, and trying to choose the best path that leads me towards the sound. I was very skeptical that WaveOut would give me better directions, but it was pretty much perfect! When there was an upcoming turn, or when I got slightly off route, it played a sound leading me directly to where I should go, and otherwise it was silent. It led me a slightly different way than I'm use to, but it never gave me inaccurate or misleading directions or made me guess where to go, and it was definitely easier than trying to figure out where to go based on the beacon in Voice Vista and Google Maps directions. The sound also kept up with the direction I was facing better than Voice Vista, and it also seemed to track my location more accurately than other apps. dreamwaves.io

Dreamwaves - See the world through your ears.

www.dreamwaves.io

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We’re seeking input from #FOSS maintainers as we design a fellowship program pilot. We want to test a support mechanism that addresses structural issues in the FOSS ecosystem, and support maintainers who work on open digital infrastructure in the public interest.

If you maintain open source projects, we would be very grateful if you could take ten minutes to respond to the survey:
survey.sovereigntechfund.de/96…

Please also repost and share with FOSS maintainers you know. Thanks!

STF Open Source Fellowship

survey.sovereigntechfund.de
#foss

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We're excited to announce the release of #GNOME46! This release brings many updates and improvements thanks to the hard work of #GNOME contributors. 🎉
youtu.be/r_QyRJf3rtQ

Read all the details in our release notes: release.gnome.org/46/
and in our official announcement: discourse.gnome.org/t/gnome-46…

GNOME 46 released

The GNOME Project is proud to announce the release of GNOME 46, ‘Kathmandu’. This release brings remote login with RDP, variable refresh rates (VRR), many accessibility improvements, enhanced notifications and improved Settings.
GNOME Discourse
#gnome #gnome46

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Hello. I made a recording of the BT Speak. Do you wish to listen? It's here. @btspeak @dblazie It goes into upsides, downsides, the power button problem, more. Update: Here's the edited recording file, which includes info on the Micro SD slot now too, and normalizes volume a bit across it: eurpod.com/BTSpeak_demo.mp3

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in reply to Allison Meloy
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Tamas G

@technocounselor I wish I would have included the Micro-SD card as a mention! Otherwise I was fairly happy with it since it went so smooth.
This entry was edited (Sunday, March 17, 2024, 1:22 AM)
in reply to Allison Meloy
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Tamas G

@technocounselor oh thanks! It was definitely on the whim, and what was crazy? I posted about the power button on the BTSpeak mailing list. After I made that recording Bryan Blazie called me to help me fix it even though he was in between flights at an airport and only had 5 minutes. Just wow. Immediate customer support. When else do you get that? Give me one company.
This entry was edited (Sunday, March 17, 2024, 1:30 AM)
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Tamas G

@technocounselor I remember the old Blazie Engineering company had virtually 24/7 tech support. Like even on weekends, if you had something wrong, you called them up and they'd either tell you how to fix or get you to send it in and find ways you could ship it to them. Absolutely zero has changed about that spirit today and that probably excited me more than it should have too about it.
This entry was edited (Sunday, March 17, 2024, 1:33 AM)
in reply to Allison Meloy
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Jay Pellis

@technocounselor If this thing could somehow help me learn linux, I'd be up for it. Don't know if there aare any text/audio tutorials out there etc. For example, I installed a text adventure/interactive fiction game interpreter on the Icon Braille plus through its command line. Don't remember what the name of it was or exactly how I did it but it ran great, spoke all text automatically and everything. Wonder if the pro version of the BT can do that?
@Allison Meloy
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David Goldfield

@jpellis2008 @technocounselor I don't see any reason why the BT Speak couldn't assist in learning Linux. Bear in mind that Blazie Technologies doesn't itself offer Linux tutorials but there are tons of them available online. Maybe some enterprising user(s) will craft a series of "Learn Linux With Your BT Speak" tutorials.
@Jay Pellis @Allison Meloy
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just a bit of a worning for anyone who has the new BT speak, do not allow the linux kernel to be upgraded. my unit is now bricked and no longer boots after the system upgraded the installed packages with sudo apt update then sudo apt upgrade. I'll have to look into this one as the system had to be hard powered off and now I get no feedback after pressing the power button.

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Because apparently Google can't be bothered implementing decent keyboard #accessibility for Google Calendar, I'm currently trying to throw together a Greasemonkey script which changes right arrow so that it moves to the next day when you hit the end of the current view instead of just doing nothing. You can currently press n to go to the next day, but then, it does this absurdly useless thing where it... focuses the first day in the scrolled view instead of the last, which is normally at least a week before the day that just had focus. 🤦‍♂️
It'd be nice if these trillion dollar companies could do things properly - this stuff just isn't that hard - but as usual, I find myself doing their jobs for them.
#Accessibility

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Interesting article discussing, in detail, a possible design for a less expensive refreshable Braille display: jacquesmattheij.com/refreshabl…

And the Hacker News comment thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3…

Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display | Hacker News

news.ycombinator.com

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Jason J.G. White

All of the cell technologies I've encountered at the low-cost end of the market have usability downsides, so I end up buying the more expensive Piezoelectric braille displays.
The most interesting technologies I'm aware of currently are those by Dot Inc., and by Tactile Engineering, both capable of supporting multi-line Braille/graphics-capable displays.
A patent search will show numerous other proposals developed over the past several decades, few of which have ever become publicly available products.

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The more I learn about Glidance, a system that purports to replace the cane, the more it seems to have taken all the criticisms of "smart canes" into account. It might be the first genuine high-tech navigation aid that could be beneficial, replacing the cane in most circumstances. I'm usually highly skeptical about these things because people just havent thought through the implications including ergonomics, weather conditions, etc

glidance.io

#accessibility #blind #a11y #mobility

Glidance | Glide your way to independence

A new era of independence for the visually impaired Glide is the first self-guided mobility aid designed to help individuals with sight loss navigate the
Glidance
#a11y #Accessibility #blind #mobility

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Pratik Patel

Continuing this thread about Glidance/Glide.

Based on the demo on their site + FAQs + the recent interview, here are some questions that seem to have been answered.

1. The design takes into account rainy weather. It will work on rainy streets. No answer about snow yet.

2. The timeline is longer than I anticipated. Beta tests are happening this year and release will happen in 2025.

3. Preorders wil start this year to gage demand and satisfy funders.

#accessibility #blind #a11y

#a11y #Accessibility #blind
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WebAIM Screen Reader Survey #10: Key Takeaways for 2024 and Beyond allyant.com/webaim-screen-read…

6 Key Takeaways from WebAIM Screen Reader Survey #10, 2024

WebAIM's 2024 screen reader survey included 1,539 valid responses. Some of the key takeaways from the survery are outlined in this article.
Ryan Wieland (Allyant)
#10

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Did you know that a lot of #Dune 's Fremen language is just Arabic? Some examples:

Muad'Dib: Teacher
Lisan al-Gaib: Teller of things yet to come.
Shai-Hulud: Eternal thing, or Eternal Shaikh/Sheik (old man).
Mahdi: The guided one
Arrakis: the dancer, the name of a star (Mu Draconis A)

Here's a bigger list: reddit.com/r/dune/comments/ec1…

#Dune

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Bad news from #mozilla - the network location service used by #microG will stop.
discourse.mozilla.org/t/retiri…

Retiring the Mozilla Location Service

The accuracy of Mozilla Location Service (MLS) has steadily declined. With no plans to restart the stumbler program or increase investments to MLS we have made the decision to retire the service.
Mozilla Discourse
#mozilla #microg

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„HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 explained“

alexandrehtrb.github.io/posts/…

The HN thread full of hilarious „I know better“ alphas and corporate conspiracy fans.

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3…

It is fun to explore what is good. It is childish to fight over what is best.

The economy idea that life is competition, that we are in a „lifeboat“ universe where everything needs to be ranked, is toxic.

HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 explained - AlexandreHTRB blog

Understand better how HTTP works in each version.
alexandrehtrb.github.io

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Clemens

@bagder Sounds like it's really just two or three people though, that do most of the hating.

Comment sections need to get better at this. Maybe there should be a downvote threshold that starts hiding all comments from one account? Or, sites should prevent people from commenting above a certain rate?

@daniel:// stenberg://
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It's a busy time at NV Access HQ, and Abroad! This week's In-Process has all the news about CSUN, NVDA 2023.3.4, NVDA 2024.1, and a run through of the new Native Selection Mode in Firefox. Read more here: nvaccess.org/post/in-process-1…

#NVDA #NVDAsr #ScreenReader #News #CSUNatc24 #CSUN #CSUN24 #News #Newsletter #Blog #Release

In-process 15th March 2024

It’s a busy time at NV Access HQ (and abroad!) so let’s dive on in: NVDA 2023.3.4 As we wait for the new version of NVDA, we are pleased to announce that NVDA 2023.3.4 is now available.…
NV Access
#blog #release #screenreader #nvdasr #News #newsletter #nvda #csun #csunatc24 #csun24

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Semantic Digital Audio memory: A cognitive aid to boost the capabilities of your memory 1/2

Sensitive content

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RastislavKish

Semantic Digital Audio memory: A cognitive aid to boost the capabilities of your memory 2/2

Sensitive content

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"Wget can be typed in using only the left hand on a qwerty keyboard!"

Still my favorite difference between #wget and #curl

daniel.haxx.se/docs/curl-vs-wg…

curl vs Wget

daniel.haxx.se
#curl #wget

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