From:	jdashiel AT eagle1 DOT eaglenet DOT com
Date:	Sun, 2 Feb 1997 20:56:12 -0500 (EST)
To:	Jason White <whiteja AT rvib2 DOT rvib DOT org DOT au>
Cc:	opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net
Subject:	Re: [opendos] Accessibility of OpenDOS with braille and speech output devices
In-Reply-To:	<Pine.SCO.3.95.970203112322.21231B-100000@rvib2.rvib.org.au>
Message-Id:	<Pine.NXT.3.95.970202205149.21620A-100000@eagle1>
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Sender:	owner-opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net

If an environment variable say vidspeed or videospeed could be used
in config.sys or autoexec.bat and be set to either fast for direct
screen
writes or slow for speech synthesizers and braille output devices,
All the applications if they could examine the environment could check
for
the setting of that environment variable and if found run accordingly.
This would eliminate the loss for developers of an extra switch
which they might put to better use.
What concerns me with both possible approaches is which one
has the highest cost in code size.
On
Mon,
3 Feb 1997, Jason White wrote:

> It is pleasing to note that there has been some discussion on this list of
> the desirability of ensuring that OpenDOS is accessible to people who use
> speech synthesizers to read the screen. I would personally not be opposed
> to the inclusion of an option that would enable direct writing to video
> memory, provided that it could readily be deactivated by users who
> preferred to rely on the BIOs. I would encourage the developers of OpenDOS
> to consider the needs of people who are using braille display devices and
> speech synthesizers when designing improvements to the operating system.
> 
> I plan to download OpenDOS later this week and to test it with one of my
> computers, which uses a speech synthesizer for output. I have heard that
> some multitasking environments under DOS interfere with the operation of
> screen access programmes that drive braille displays and speech
> synthesizers. These programmes are essentially TSR applications which
> monitor screen output, for example by capturing text that is sent to the
> BIOS. They also control the keyboard to enable the user to review the
> screen selectively and to modify the parameters of the braille display or
> speech synthesizer while other programmes (for example, word processors,
> DOS utilities, or command.com) are running.
> 
> The availability of a multitasking, text-based version of DOS with support
> for internet access would be a significant advantage to many people with
> vision impairments and related disabilities who require alternative output
> devices. It is desirable therefore that future versions of OpenDOS be
> compatible with screen reading software, including the multitasking
> system, the network support and any other options that are to be added.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Jason White.
> 
> 
> 


jude <jdashiel AT eagle1 DOT eaglenet DOT com>

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