BrailleSupport

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 * Simple configuration of bluetooth devices. Can they be auto-detected? -- No, some user input will be required.

Summary

Provide Braille support that Just Works. Reintroduce auto-detection of USB braille devices on all systems and write a simple configuration script for serial and bluetooth devices.

Rationale

Synthetic speech output works quite well by default on Ubuntu via Orca and Festival or Speakup and eSpeak. Some visually impaired users prefer to use Braille, and sometimes speech output is not an option. brltty is already installed on Ubuntu systems but not automatically activated.

Use cases

  • Irina is a blind Ubuntu user who uses both speech output and braille, but she has had some trouble configuring her braille device.
  • Arthur is deafblind and therefore relies completely on braille for computer interaction. Entering several commands on the command line to get brltty running is not a good solution for him.
  • Adding a braille device to a computer after install should work smoothly. USB devices should be auto-detected and serial devices can be configured using a simple script.
  • Fritz is a blind sysadmin who performs many server installations. Using a USB braille device he can simply start the server CD with F5+6 and his braille device will be autodetected before d-i starts. If he wants to use an older serial device he must also enter the port number and device type.

Scope

Provide simple and independent use of braille devices on the Live CD and through the install. All Ubuntu systems, including Live CDs, installed systems and server editions should auto-detect USB braille devices.

Design

  • Enable auto-detection of USB braille devices
  • Add a Braille option to the F5 Live menu.
  • Design a simple setup system for Braille devices. USB ones can generally be auto-detected, but serial devices require configuration.
    • Can be run on boot on the Live CD or on a running system
    • In case sighted assistance is used to set up braille this simple script allows that to be a non-technical person.
  • Make Orca and/or speakup do the right thing when braille has been configured.

Implementation

Script to be run at boot on Live CD (F5+6) and from the command line on installed systems. On the server CD the cript would be run just before d-i starts (if F5+6 was pressed and no USB device was detected)

  • The user boots and presses: F5, 6, Enter, Enter; the CD boots
  • If he has a USB device it boots directly in to Gnome and just works
  • If not, the boot process stops at some point before GDM and prompts the user for information (issue a beep at this point):

    • b for bluetooth [Enter]

      • Address [Enter]
      • PIN [Enter]

    • s for serial [Enter]

      • Serial port to use: press 0 for ttys0, etc.
      • standard brltty code for device type such as 'bl' (Enter for auto)
      • The process would be described on a website

      • Because careless configuration of serial devices can be problematic (cause data loss on devices) there needs to be clear warnings for anyone who may have selected this option by mistake (this is aimed at the default Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu CDs): You are about to configure a serial braille device. Press Esc to cancel. A serial device warning would also go on the website.

    • u for USB [Enter]

      • Covers cases where the USB device was not detected such as a serial device attached to a USB dongle.

Unresolved issues

  • What subsystem is used to detect the USB devices? A general daemon or must brltty always be running on all systems?
  • language: should this be python or a shell script?

  • Is there any reason we have to use brltty-udeb for the server install instead of the standard brltty package. Is compactness the main difference? ([http://packages.debian.org/unstable/debian-installer/brltty-udeb ref]: This is a small version of brltty, optimized for use on install media.)

  • How much hardware detection is done by the server CD on starting up? Would a USB device be detected or do we need to trigger that probe specifically as a result of using the F5 menu?

Research past brltty problems in Ubuntu

CategorySpec