Screen reader advice for a Linux sysadmin

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Hello Kathy,

I will admittedly confess that I too have asked these same types of questions recently on this list. I understand there are a lot of Linux users who rely on assistive technology to interact with their system but for me Orca was not working as expected. I am a PhD research student and I do a lot with embedded systems, several different programming languages, and shell commands. I recently was required to use Ubuntu 16.04 to develop, run, and test a program. I went out and purchased a new HP laptop to install Ubuntu on but once I did I ran into a lot of technical difficulties when using Orca. There were some things Orca was not reading, other things where Orca would stop talking, and still other things which I was unable to determine if Orca was the problem. As a result I simply spun up an AWS instance running Ubuntu 16.04 and I use my Mac terminal to ssh into my Ubuntu box. I was able to develop, run and test my software with no problem at all. I will also admit that I do not use Windows much at all if I can help it but if necessary I will use it for a given task. 

Here is my opinion and it is only my opinion I am sure others here can provide a very different opinion. I use Mac due to its high quality screen reader, easy to use interface, and access to Unix terminal. I would love to say I use Linux because I do but at this current moment I only use it on the cloud virtually. Maybe that is the same thing in retrospect. I can use all three operating systems with different screen readers because I want to make sure I am versatile and able to use whatever is necessary for me to solve the problem at hand. Since you have done your job for 20 years or so you know best what you will require to continue performing that job. I can say that everything you described can be done using a Mac with built in tools. Hope this helps. 


Bryan Duarte | software engineer

ASU Computer Science Ph.D Student
IGERT Fellow
Alliance for Person-centered Accessible Technology (APAcT)
Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC Lab)
National Federation of the Blind of Arizona | Affiliate Board Member
National Association of Blind Students | Board Member
Arizona Association of Blind Students | President
Phone: 480-652-3045

> On Feb 27, 2018, at 11:55 AM, Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
> 
> Kathy