Blogs

Just some years ago, it seemed something really impossible that a blind user could be able to develop applications using graphical object and that a blind user could create a GUI by itself.
At the moment the situation has really changed.
The last versions of the Windows screen readers changed the way blind users explore all the objects available in a graphical interface. These screen readers also give the possibility to be customized for each application so that you can change the way that they will interpret and
intercept the contents.

I'd like to present the State of art for the solutions available for blind users related to the Operating System Linux.

First, Linux is accessible in two different ways: graphical interface and text console.
The graphical interface is more useful for home users or students that want to use Linux as an alternative operating system and they use it for tasks like word processing, internet surfing, etc.
The textual console is oriented to users that want to use this operating system for computer programming or because they want to configure a computer as a network server.

I have recently signed up to follow the free-math Google Group.
This group has been set up by Aaron Leventhal, an accessibility expert of IBM - although there are rumors that IBM is letting him go - who also has an interesting blog, called Access Garage.

On a recent "The New York Times" article there's a story about T.V. Raman, a well-known Google engineer, and his recent works.
He's currently busy exploring ways to allow blind people to use touch-screen phones.