Hi Listers: I got this information from a U.K based list and I am posting the contents for your information.
Francis Khan Greetings, My name is Dr.Anthony Sales and I am currently working as the ICT Development Officer at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, UK. I have developed a free and open source operating system called 'Vinux' based on the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution which has been optimised for visually impaired users. One of the Governors of the College who is a member of this list, thought some of you would be interested in the project. So here goes... Vinux is designed to boot your computer, log you in automatically and then start up the Orca screen-reader with Braille support. Full-screen magnification can then be activated with a simple keystroke. You can use Vinux as a live CD, a portable operating system on a USB memory stick or you can install it to your hard drive either alongside or as a complete replacement for Windows. N.B. While using the live CD the default username is 'vinux'. You can however choose your own username and password once you have installed it. The download URL's are: Download Vinux 1.4 - http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.4/Vinux-1.4.iso Check md5sum - http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.4/Vinux-1.4.iso.md5sum.txt Vinux Homepage - http://vinux.org.uk Please read all of this document before you attempt to run Vinux or install it to an internal hard drive or USB pendrive; It will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run! If you have not used Linux before you may need some instructions on how to get it working. There is a dedicated development forum where you can get help and support: http://groups.google.com/group/vinux-development The latest release is version 1.4, new features include: Security: Unlike previous versions Vinux 1.4 has been built from scratch using the Ubuntu 'mini.iso' 10MB network installation which means it contains all of the latest packages and security patches as of the day of release. Audible Boot Prompt: The Live CD now sounds the system bell three times when the boot prompt appears on the screen, which then gives you thirty seconds to type in any cheatcodes or boot options you require. e.g. typing 'textonly' will boot into console only mode, you can then type 'yasr' to start a console based screen-reader. Braille Displays: The Live CD now supports a wide variety of serial Braille displays in edition to the automatic detection of USB Braille displays. In order to use a serial Braille display or a USB Braille display with a different language table you simply have to type in a short code at the boot prompt. e.g. 'alde' for an Alva Serial display using the German language table, or 'alude' for an Alva USB display using the german language table. There are a full list of cheatcodes included in the 'cheatcodes_braille_displays.txt' on the CD. By default Vinux supports USB Braille displays using the en_uk language table. Talking Login Screen: Once installed espeak will now ask you to enter your username and password when the login screen is loaded providing you do not enable autologin during the installation process. It will not however echo what you type, but if you enter the wrong username and/or password you will be asked to enter them again. It is important that you should not enable autologin if you are using a wifi connection as the keyring manager workaround detailed below depends upon a manual login to work! Keyring Manager Workaround: Vinux now includes a workaround of sorts for the keyring manager which is currently inaccessible with Orca. We have set up a pre-configured keyring password 'vinux' which is retained on both the Live CD and an full install. This means that when you try to connect to a wifi network Orca stops speaking when the keyring manager password dialog box opens. Now you simply have to type 'vinux' into this box and as long as autologin is not enabled you will never have to enter the keyring password again. Lynx Fix: Lynx, Netrik and Firefox now use a local copy of the vinux.org.uk homepage as their starting URL's by default which means that you can open the broswers without problems whether you have an active internet connection or not. Menu Entries for Console Applications: I have added menu entries for some of the extra console based applications provided in Vinux. This is to enable beginners who may not know the names of these applications or their way around the console to find and experiment with them more easily. End of New Features Below is a list of extra packages included in Vinux 1.4 followed by a list of all the customised Vinux keybindings. Extra Packages: Speech Synthesisers festival flite Gnome Packages xzoom - windowed magnifier xbindkeys - configure keyboard shortcuts nautilus-open-terminal - open terminal from nautilus gnome-accessibility - accessibility themes gnome-accessibility-themes-extras - extra accesibility themes xkbset- keyboard accessibility functions Command Line Applications yasr - screen-reader lynx - web browser urlview - extract URL's joe - text editor mc - file manager irssi - irc client mutt - e-mail client alpine - e-mail client tpp - text presenter ncftp - ftp client units - conversion tool e3 - text editor mpg123 - audio player pdmenu - menu generator partimage - partition imager vlock - lock the console sysv-rc-conf - configure init runlevel sc - screen-reader netrik - web browser 9menu - menu generator aumix - audio mixer calcurse - calendar/todo list Forensics/Recovery Tools testdisk - disk recovery autopsy - gui for sleuthkit dcfldd - enhanced dd foremost - recover data scalpel - file carver sleuthkit - forensic analysis gddrescue - data recovery wipe - secure file deletion ddrescue - data recovery backup-manager - backup tool Vinux Customised Keyboard Commands: Orca Keybindings Increase Voice Rate: insert+right Decrease Voice Rate: insert+left Increase Voice Pitch: insert+up Decrease Voice Pitch: Insert+down Toggle Magnification On/Off: insert+m Increase Magnification: insert+(equals) Decrease Magnification: insert+(minus) Invert Colours: insert+i Read Time: insert+t Read date: insert+d Read Battery Power: insert+a Read weather: insert+w Xbindkeys Start/Restart Orca: ctrl+shift+o Start YASR: ctrl+shift+y Enable 3D Magnification: ctrl+shift+3 Disable 3D Magnification: ctrl+shift+2 Gnome Keybindings Open Terminal: ctrl+shift+t Open Home Folder: ctrl+shift+h Toggle Maximise Window: ctrl+shift+m Toggle Fullscreen Mode: ctrl+shift+f Compiz 3D Desktop Keybindings (Must enable 3D) Zoom In: win+z (win+left-mouse) Zoom Out: win+x (win+right-mouse) Zoom Selected Area: (win+middle-mouse) Zoom x1: win+1 Zoom x2: win+2 Zoom x4: win+3 Toggle Magnifier Box: win+m Zoom In Magnifier Box: ctrl+left-mouse Zoom Out Magnifier Box: ctrl+right-mouse Resize Window: win+r Zoom To Window: win+w Pan Right: win+right Pan Left: win+left Pan Up: win+up Pan Down: win+down Lock Zoomed Window: win+l Centre Mouse Pointer: win+c Toggle Highlight Mouse Pointer: win+h Toggle Invert Colours: win+i Toggle Invert Window Colours: shift+win+i Toggle Filter Colours: win+f Toggle Window Filter Colours: shift+win+f Switch Filter Colours: win+s Decrease Window Brightness: win+(minus) Increase Window Brightness: win+(plus) Decrease Window Saturation: shift+win+(plus) Increase Window Saturation: shift+win+(minus) Toggle Dim Inactive Windows: win+d NB: Full lists of the Keybindings for Orca, Gnome and Yasr can be found in the Vinux folder in the your home directory. Credits: I would like to thank Osvaldo La Rosa for all his hard work in providing the audible beeps and the Braille display cheatcodes, and David Knight for suggesting the workaround for the keyring manager bug! Have fun, Dr.Anthony Sales 24/03/2009 Visit the JAWS Users List home page at: http://www.jaws-users.com Visit the Blind Computing home page at: http://www.blind-computing.com Address for the list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to [email protected] For help from Mailman with your account Put the word help in the subject or body of a blank message to: [email protected] Use the following address in order to contact the management team [email protected] If you wish to join the JAWS Users List send a blank email to the following address: [email protected]
