[orca-list] questions re: ubuntu and/or debian, speech software, nautilus, and more

[Jason Custer <jscuster gmail com>]

Hello,

I've never joined this list before, but I have lurked on the
outskirts, reading plenty of excellent info from the archives. I just
haven't found the answers to some questions and hope you can help.

1. I have read Ubuntu 12.04 is one of the best distros for
accessibility because so many things are included, QT accessibility,
among others. Is this still true? The following questions assume so.
2. After installing Ubuntu, the login screen spoke nicely, after
pressing ctrl-S, but after updating, it spoke no more. I have read
that others experience this problem and find the sound is muted. Can I
unmute this via command line or something? I've tried modifying the
/etc/pulse/default.pa and (system.pa?) files to set the volume and
unmute the sink, but to no avail. I have no sighted assistance, my
screen is busted on the laptop in question.

3. Is unity the best shell for accessibility? I know gnome-shell is
lacking some things, like no text on the status icons (battery etc),
but what about the others: Mate, Cennamon, XFCE, LXDE, etc? If one of
these is better, can you point me to install instructions?

4. Using Ubuntu, how can I "see" what applications are available, and
select one to run? For example, if I install an app, how can I find
and start it without using alt-f2 and typing in the command? After
all, this is supposed to be a graphical UI, right?

5. Orca is dog slow when using Nautilus. It may not be Orca's fault, I
don't know, but is there any way to pick up the pace, or a better file
manager? I turned off all the things in prefferences, such as:
thumbnails, counting items, etc.

6. I have one program that requires windows, and I have to use this
program, there is no other. Has wine gotten accessible yet? If not,
which is more accessible, VirtualBox or VMWare Player, maybe something
else?

7. Finally, eSpeak drives me nuts, so I want to find something better.
Is there such a beast? I have voxin, but it seems very buggy. I keep
getting a screen to report crashes with it. I've heard good things
about ivona, but how responsive is it? I haven't had success
installing festival, I installed the recommended packages, but orca,
and presumably speech-dispatcher, were unable to find it.

Thanks again in advance for your help, I want to remove windows, I
don't particularly care for it. I have more questions, but these are
the burning ones for now.

Thank you,
Jason
-- 
Jason Custer
IT Blogger and contributor
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