BrailleSupport

Revision 18 as of 2006-11-29 12:51:45

Clear message

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 (Live and alternate versions). All Ubuntu systems, including Live CDs, installed systems and server editions should auto-detect USB braille devices. All Ubuntu CDs (Live and alternates) should have a boot option that lets you configure a braille display if a USB device cannot be auto-detected.

Design

  • Enable auto-detection of USB braille devices. udev should load the brltty daemon if a USB braille device is found.
  • Add a Braille option to the F5 Live menu, choice #6.
  • Design a simple setup script for non-USB Braille devices.
    • Will be run on boot on the Live or alternate CD, before the desktop or d-i starts, or on a running system by typing braille-setup at a prompt

    • 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

  • Enable loading of the brltty daemon by udev upon finding a USB braille device
  • Write an interactive shell script called braille-setup to help configure serial and blue-tooth devices

  • A new option (#6) in the F5 gfxboot menu starts this script if a USB braille device is not found

  • d-i uses brltty-udeb to provide braille support, the Live CD uses brltty and Orca

The boot process with the script will be:

  • 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 (or d-i) 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/Edubuntu/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.

Code

attachment:braille-setup (shell script attachment)

Research past brltty problems in Ubuntu


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