{"id":25,"date":"2009-11-08T00:59:14","date_gmt":"2009-11-07T22:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.assistivetechnologygroup.org.uk\/blog\/?p=25"},"modified":"2009-11-08T00:59:14","modified_gmt":"2009-11-07T22:59:14","slug":"gnulinux-live-cds-for-screenreader-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/gnulinux-live-cds-for-screenreader-users\/","title":{"rendered":"GNU\/Linux Live CDs for screenreader users"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re a real geek you’ve probably at least booted up Linux and played with Emacspeaks<\/a> or Orca<\/a> or Speakup.<\/a> You’ve probably got at least one Live CD<\/strong> – that is, a CD you can boot that runs a working GNU\/Linux operating system so you can fix your Windows installation – or you know, even try out Linux itself. Knoppix<\/a> is probably the most famous. <\/p>\n

Well, there are not one but two<\/em> distros that let you boot, provide speech synthesis or even drive a Braille display, and use the machine straight away without installing any extra AT. Use the machine, install GNU\/Linux, access the file system – all without a sighted friend coming in and pressing the buttons for you. Well, pretty much – see below.<\/p>\n

\n
Vinux<\/a><\/dt>\n
Vinux is built by Tony Sales of the British Computer Association of the Blind.<\/a> Based on Debian. Uses Orca for the screenreader, runs off CD or USB stick. Probably the one to try out first.<\/dd>\n
GRML<\/a><\/dt>\n
Also Debian-based, but uses the Speakup screenreader. You have to type something when it boots to start the screenreader, but it comes to me recommended by a blind screenreader user, so it gets a mention. Maybe for the more geeky types.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

So next time you break your machine by “accidentally” deleting a driver file “to save space” and you haven’t got round to backing up your machine even though you really really meant to this time – you can boot a Live CD and rescue your files without a sighted accomplice. Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re a real geek you’ve probably at least booted up Linux and played with Emacspeaks or Orca or Speakup. You’ve probably got at least one Live CD – that is, a CD you can boot that runs a working GNU\/Linux operating system so you can fix your Windows installation – or you know, even … Continue reading “GNU\/Linux Live CDs for screenreader users”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[16,17,14,18,15],"class_list":["post-25","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blind","tag-grml","tag-knoppix","tag-linux","tag-os","tag-vinux"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25\/revisions\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webbie.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}