BRLTTY is a background process (daemon) providing access to the Linux console (when in text mode) for a blind person using a refreshable braille display. Version 3.0, July 2002 Copyright (C) 1995-2002 by The BRLTTY Team, All rights reserved. BRLTTY comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, placed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, as published by the Free Software Foundation. Please see the file COPYING for details. Web Page: http://mielke.cc/brltty/ This software is maintained by Dave Mielke . If you have any interest in BRLTTY, please drop us a note. We're interested in knowing who the BRLTTY users are, and how many there are. Even if all goes well and you have no problems with this package, please let us know you're there, and tell us which brand of display you use. If you have problems, we will be happy to help. If you have suggestions or comments, or if you wish to contribute, you're welcome! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction for Those New to Refreshable Braille ================================================= There are two common ways in which blind people access computers. The first, and more widely known, is synthesized speech. While having many advantages, e.g. speed for reading plain text, speech does have its drawbacks. Speech output generally gives little information about formatting, making tables, spreadsheets, etc. difficult to use. It can also be difficult to use speech output with particularly technical material containing lots of symbols (though many determined people do use it for such things). The other solution, which attempts to answer some of these problems, is Braille output. A soft (or refreshable) Braille display typically consists of a single line of 20, 40 or 80 characters, each made up of a matrix of four rows and two columns of dots. Each dot is individually driven by a separate motor, making the whole assembly extremely expensive. A soft Braille display is connected to the PC by a serial, parallel, or USB port. Software on the PC drives the display, reproducing a rectangle of the screen image (which we shall call the window) in Braille. Buttons on the Braille display itself are used to send signals back to the software, instructing it to move the window around the screen, or to perform some other specialized function. Using a soft Braille display with a 40- or 80-character line, it is quite easy for a blind user to appreciate the format of information on the screen, as well as to read and edit on-line Braille documents (a concept not widely enough utilized). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction to BRLTTY ====================== While soft Braille displays have been used for many years under MS-DOS, and are now being used under Windows, it seems that they haven't been used on Unix consoles too much. This could well be because blind people have been able to access Unix systems through accessible terminals. With the advent of PC-based Unix systems, e.g. Linux, the need has become evident. BRLTTY attempts to fill this gap. It runs as a background process, possibly started at boot-time, and allows a soft Braille user to access text mode applications directly from Linux's virtual consoles. Since BRLTTY runs as a background process, it gives the user complete freedom of choice regarding applications and development tools. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Features ======== * Full implementation of the usual screen review facilities. * Choice between `block', `underline', or `no' cursor. * Optional `underline' to indicate specially highlighted text. * Optional use of `blinking' (rates individually settable) for cursor, special highlighting underline, and/or capital letters. * Screen freezing for leisurely review. * `Intelligent' cursor routing, allowing easy fetching of cursor within text editors, web browsers, etc., without moving ones hands from the Braille display. * A cut & paste function which is particularly useful for copying long file names, copying text between virtual terminals, entering complicated commands, etc. * An on-line help facility. * A preferences menu. * Support for multiple Braille codes. * Modular design allowing relatively easy addition of drivers for other Braille displays, or even (hopefully) porting to other Unix-like platforms. * Basic speech support. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Currently Supported Hardware ============================ BRLTTY requires Linux kernel 1.1.92 or later (for /dev/vcsa0 (also known as /dev/vcsa and /dev/vcc/a)). It has been tested on * a variety of Intel based PCs: both laptops and desktops; * an Alpha workstation; * a StrongARM based Netwinder; * a number of Linux kernels, from 1.2.13 to 2.2.x; * all major distributions, including Red Hat, Debian, Slackware; The following Braille displays are supported (serial communication only for most of them): * Alva [ABT3xx, Delphi, Satellite] * BrailleLite [18/40] * BrailleNote [18/32] * CombiBraille [25/45/85] * EcoBraille [20/40/80] * EuroBraille [Clio-noteBraille 40] * HandyTech [Modular 20/40/80, Wave 40, Star 40/80, Bookworm] * LogText [32] * MDV (protocol 5) [MB208/MB408L/MB408S] * MiniBraille [20] * MultiBraille [MB125CR/MB145CR/MB185CR] * Papenmeier [Tiny, Compact, 2D Lite/Screen, EL2D 40/66/80, EL 40/80, Elba 20/32, IB 80] * TSI [Navigator 20/40/80, PowerBraille 40/65/80] * Vario/RBT (emulation 1) [40/80] * Vario/RBT (emulation 2) [40/80] * VideoBraille [40] * VisioBraille [2040] * Voyager [44/70 (USB)] The ability to add a new Braille display depends on the level of cooperation from its manufacturer in providing programming information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layout of the Archive ===================== BRLTTY is distributed as a single GNU compressed tar file named brltty-.tar.gz where `' is the release number. When the archive is unpacked, there should be a subdirectory called `DOCS' which contains all of the general BRLTTY documentation including the manual in various formats, and the list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The source files for the main, device-independent core of BRLTTY are in the top-level directory. There is one subdirectory for each Braille display type, containing display-specific source files and documentation. Finally, some Braille definition tables, along with tools to manipulate them, are available in the `BrailleTables' subdirectory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Building the Package ==================== Simply invoking `make' will build BRLTTY and all driver libraries. To build BRLTTY with a specific built-in driver (usually only necessary when preparing BRLTTY for use on a boot disk), just edit the main `Makefile' and uncomment the driver specification you want to see linked with the main executable before invoking `make'. Then, as root, `make install' will install all the files into their proper locations. For information specific to a particular driver, please see the `README' file in the corresponding subdirectory. Finally, see the `DOCS' subdirectory for BRLTTY manuals and miscellaneous information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RedHat Package Manager ====================== BRLTTY is also distributed in the RPM (RedHat Package Manager) format. The following files are available: brltty--.src.rpm brltty--.i386.rpm To build and install BRLTTY from scratch: Download the .src.rpm file. Install the source with: rpm -ivh brltty--.src.rpm Build and install it with: rpm -bi brltty-- If your system is an x86 then you don't need to be concerned with building BRLTTY since we provide prebuilt binaries for these platforms. Just do: Download the .i386.rpm file. Install or upgrade it with: rpm -Uvh brltty--.i386.rpm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executing BRLTTY ================ If you compiled BRLTTY with a braille driver built-in, simply invoking `brltty' should start it with all defaults. Alternatively, you might need to specify a Braille driver with the `-b' option. `brltty -h' displays a brief summary of all available options. You may use a configuration file for most options as well. See the example configuration file `brltty.conf' in the `DOCS' subdirectory. And don't forget to review the notes for your Braille display. See the `README' file in its driver's subdirectory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BRLTTY Team =============== Many people have contributed to the development of BRLTTY, most notably: Dave Mielke Current maintainer, run-time loadable driver modules, GenericSay speech driver, Accent/SA support, BrailleNote driver, tunes (sound card, sequencer, OPL3). Nicolas Pitre Core development, speech framework, Alva driver, EuroBraille driver, Televox speech driver, BrailleLite driver tweaks. Stéphane Doyon TSI drivers (Navigator, PowerBraille), MDV driver, BrailleLite driver tweaks, ExternalSpeech speech driver, core development, cut and paste, tunes (PC speaker). August Hörandl Papenmeier driver, initial run-time loadable driver module design. Nikhil Nair Project founder, CombiBraille driver, BrailleLite driver. All other individual driver authors. Any comments and/or criticisms regarding BRLTTY in general should be addressed to Dave Mielke, Nicolas Pitre, and/or Stéphane Doyon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------