Hey Rich, might I please engage w/you off list? On 8/17/20, Chevelle <[email protected]> wrote: > Braille screen input would be fine, but the first challenge would > be to get Linux installed and have some accessible applications. I find > it hard to imagine using Braille Screen Input for any serious work. > Many Braille displays already have keys that allow Braille input. If I > remember correctly, some company is selling a $99 Braille keyboard that > has Blue tooth. I would think your time would be better spent on making > a Linux distribution accessible, on phones. > > I don't want to discourage you. > > This site shows Linux projects for use on phones. > > https://many.tuxphones.com/ > > > On 8/12/2020 11:39 AM, Rich wrote: >> Although this question is somewhat off-topic, I'm hoping that some folks >> here >> will find it interesting enough to give me a bit of slack. Anyway, here >> goes... >> >> Background >> >> I'm a sighted, semi-retired, volunteer developer who is very interested in >> the >> possibility of re-purposing Android cell phones as blind-accessible >> computing >> and communication devices. There are a number of projects working on >> re-using >> the billions of aging cell phones that are out there. Some, such as >> LineageOS, >> start with an open source version of Android. Others, such as >> postmarketOS and >> Mobian, start with a more vanilla flavor of Linux (e.g., Alpine, Debian). >> >> Although the first approach makes tons of Android software available, most >> of >> this is GUI-based, so accessibility will generally be a challenge. Basing >> the >> system on Linux allows a wealth of CLI-based software to be used and helps >> to >> anchor the resulting system more closely in the open source community. >> >> Challenges >> >> One of the biggest challenges, I suspect, will be providing an accessible >> form >> of text input. Most screen-based keyboards for cell phones aren't >> suitable, >> a physical keyboard would add cost and bulk, and voice recognition >> (without the >> support of cloud computing) still seems to be beyond the phone's >> capabilities. >> >> So, I've been speculating about how to support Braille Screen Input (BSI) >> on a >> Linux-based cell phone. BSI is available on Android, Fire OS, and iOS >> (please >> let me know if I'm missing any others!), but I haven't found any >> indication that >> anyone is working on supporting it for any form of Linux. >> >> I think I have a handle on how to architect the front end of the code, >> using a >> set of Actors (lightweight processes) running on a foundation of Elixir, >> Erlang, >> and OTP. However, I'm totally out of my depth when it comes to >> interfacing the >> code to other apps, the window system, and the rest of the OS. >> >> Should I be looking into D-Bus, GTK, Qt, or what? Also, are there any >> ways the >> code could leverage BRLTTY, Emacspeak, Orca, etc? How would typical blind >> users >> want a BSI subsystem to act in this context? I'm really confused here, so >> I'm >> asking for advice, comments, and so forth. >> >> -r >> >> P.S. There is at least one physical keyboard which isn't totally out of >> the >> question for use with a cell phone. It's a folding keyboard/touchpad >> combo that >> supports both Bluetooth and USB. It's about 6" x 3.8" x 0.5" when folded >> up and >> 12" x 3.8" x 0.25" when unfolded: >> >> Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard, Jelly Comb Dual Mode Bluetooth & USB >> Wired Rechargable Portable Mini BT Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad Mouse >> for Android, Windows, PC, Tablet-Black >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S9XZDGY >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> This message was sent via the BRLTTY mailing list. >> To post a message, send an e-mail to: [email protected] >> For general information, go to: http://brltty.app/mailman/listinfo/brltty > _______________________________________________ > This message was sent via the BRLTTY mailing list. > To post a message, send an e-mail to: [email protected] > For general information, go to: http://brltty.app/mailman/listinfo/brltty
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