[Juser] Re: Client for the disabled?

[Frank Seesink]

Hey Sami!

Not sure if this is any help, but if by disabled you mean blind, one 
possibility, at least for Windows users, might be the Rhymbox client 
(www.rhymbox.com).  Your post made me remember something I read on the 
Rhymbox support forum recently.  It took me awhile to dig it up (the 
forum could use some help with its search tool), but here's the direct link:

http://pub72.ezboard.com/frhymboxfrm4.showMessage?topicID=121.topic

The user making the support request IS blind, and the person responding 
is the author of Rhymbox.  But the overall impression I get is that the 
user finds Rhymbox useful in his case.  It's not console-oriented, mind 
you, but rather relies heavily on MS Internet Explorer's engine, which 
in turn apparently is translated by the reader program he uses (JAWS for 
Windows).

As always, your mileage may vary, but figured I'd mention it.  You may 
want to contact the user in the above post and see if he has any further 
info.  Wish I could be of more help, but this is all I've run across. 
Not sure which console clients you've gone through, but I would think 
any that run under Linux would be readable to those who use hardware 
braille readers.

My former CS student and friend, who is blind, had such a reader that 
plugged into the serial port of his PC.  It worked with DOS back in 
1992.  It took us awhile to get him up and running with Linux back 
around '94-'95, but I remember Joel (my friend) using it back then 
already, so can only imagine things have progressed.  Joel could read 
anything on the console screen, though apps that use curses and similar 
full-screen features could throw him at times.  Not sure how things have 
progressed since then, as I haven't seen Joel since around 1996. :-/

Best of luck with this issue.  I think it's a worthy cause to pursue.

Sami Haahtinen wrote:
> Does anyone know of a client that is guided towards the disabled? A 
> client that has been designed to work with braille terminals or other aids?
> 
> Currently i don't know of any such client. I've gone through pretty much 
> all console clients. I know that there are tools like gnopernicus to 
> allow using gnome clients, but i still feel that console clients are 
> better suited.
> 
> What i'm looking for is a simplistic client which pays attention to the 
> cursor position, which pays attention to screen layout for readability, 
> which pays attention to audible alerts and other accessibility features.
> 
> Has anyone been thinking about this, or am i alone with my thoughts.
> 
> I think i could be able to convince quite a few users to use jabber if 
> there were clients that allowed disabled people to use them. As far as i 
> know there aren't too many other clients (for other IM systems) that 
> address this issue, so there is a demand for this.
> 
> Regards, Sami