Hi Michael, That's actually one of the reasons I have taken to playing interactive fiction type games on linux using Speakup. Since many VI users, such as those who run Vinux, still very much use the console and console applications with speakup you can load up your favorite IF title in frotz and it is not all that different than the Dos days. On Windows with the development of screen readers like Jaws, Window-eyes, and on linux the Orca screen reader just don't handle console applications as well as the console screen readers do. Dos screen readers are a tthing of the past on Windows systems, but on Linux there is Yasr and Speakup to access the console. That's why Linux users are still able to access scare and frotz more or less like the old Dos days.
Cheers! On 11/4/10, Michael Feir <michael.f...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Neofite. Welcome aboard. I've been following your entrance onto the list > with some interest. Interactive fiction has somewhat faded from centre stage > over the years since I started Audyssey Magazine. Audio arcade games have > given us less cerebral alternatives as graphics did for the sighted. Another > problem has been that interactive fiction has become harder to properly > access. In the days of Dos, I could use my screen-reader to review text and > the current move would automatically be read out loud. Winfrotztts only > offers us a partial solution. The current move is read aloud but one cannot > review it as you could with a screen-reader. Also, the hints and help menus > don't work very well at all since the current option isn't tracked or > announced. This makes getting into the games harder for newcommers. We > either need an interpreter which lets modern screen-readers work with the > same facility that they let us access web pages, or a self-voicing > interpreter which esentially lets us review text and everything like a > screen-reader would. At the moment, we have neither. David Kinder says it's > because of how text is sent to the screen so that it looks better. He > indicated to me that he was too busy to work on a better solution for us. > The current version of his windowsfrotz does have the ability to read text > as it is output but is like Winfrotztts in that it doesn't let one review > the text properly or deal with the help menus well. > Michael Feir > Author of Personal Power: > How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People > 2006-2008 > www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power > > A Life of Word and Sound > 2003-2007 > http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound > > Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine > 1996-2004 > Check out my blog at: > www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
