Re: Emacspeak and Streaming Audio?

["Thomas Ward" <slingshooter@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, see my answers below in the body of your message.

----- Original Message -----
From: Daryl Croke <darylallan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 9:22 PM
Subject: Emacspeak and Streaming Audio?


> Hi
>
> I am writing an article about accessibility issues and screen readers. The
> deadline for the article is the 30/11. The focus is using a screen reader
to
> play streaming audio.
>> Below is a list of questions I'm asking screen reader manufactures. Not
all
> of the questions are relevent to Emacspeak though.

Ok, no problem.

>
> Are there any plans to "port" the product to another OS?

One time I recompiled emacspeak to FreeBSD, and it is possible to use
Emacspeak on any Unix with a little tweeking.

> What 3rd party audio players does Emacspeak support?
>
> Win Amp?

There is an open source clone called Freeamp that works with Emacspeak and
Speakup.


> Media Player?

Nope. Windows Media Player is strictly Microslop software, and to my knolege
MS isn't interested in porting it to Linux.

> Real Player?

You can download the free real player 8 from real.com for Linux, and with
the trplayer commandline interface it defenately works.

> Quicktime?

It doesn't work with Emacspeak or Speakup for Linux, but should work with
Gnopernicus once it is released. Quicktime is X-Windows based, and until
Gnopernicus is released X-Windows isn't accessible.

> Mp3?

You can play mp3 with Real Player, mpg123, and Freeamp.

> Flash?

Same as Quicktime. Flash is Windows based, and one requires X-Windows
accessibility before it will be accessible.

> Shockwave?
>
Nope. I don't know of anyway in Linux to use Shockwave.


> Others? Linux based 3rd party players?

You might want to add ogg vorbis to your list of accessible streaming media
formats. It blows mp3 away, and there are commandline tools tht work well
with it.

>
> How does Emacspeak interact with 3rd party audio players?
>
I usually simply open a shell buffer by doing an escape+x, type shell, and
then run the commandline audio player I want to use.

> Are there significant problems in Interacting with 3rd party players?

Only if there are X-windows based as with Quicktime, Flash, etc...
>
> How does Emacspeak play audio files?

By using third-party audio players such as mpg123, aplayer, etc...

>
> Can Emacspeak play mp3, aiff, wav or au files?

You can use a program like mpg123 for mp3 and the alsa aplayer to handle
wave, au, and other files.


>
> Can Emacspeak play "streaming" audio?

Depends. Usually, I download the .ram file for a real audio site, and then
run trplayer to listen in on the streaming real audio.

>
> Should developers avoid "pop-up" players or seek to embed players in the
> actual web page?


I really don't know how to answer this question so I'll pas on it.

>
> Could you suggest the best method of playing streaming audio with
> Emacspeakt?

Yes, for Speakup and Emacspeak the best options would be Ogg Vorbis, or Real
Audio.

>
> Any assistance will be acknowledged in the article.
>
> Thanks in Advance.
>
> Daryl Croke.
> darylallan@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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