[Freeciv-Dev] Re: freeciv accessibility to the blind

[Christian Knoke <chrisk@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Aug 20, 2003 at 08:00:29AM +0000, Per I. Mathisen wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Aug 2003, Zachary wrote:
> > I have been aware of freeciv for about six or seven months and have come
> > to notice something quite rare in computer games today. Namely, that
> > this game is accessible to blind and visually impaired players.I am a
> > windows user, so I cant comment on the x-windows release.
> 
> Which windows client is this? There are three of them now.
> 
> > I was just wondering if their was any possibility of creating an even
> > more accessible version, using speech through a sound card or better yet
> > interfacing with screen readers directly. If this were possible, I would
> > be forever obliged to whoever could accomplish it, I feel that it has
> > potential, and am quite willing to wait for anything that might come of
> > this.
> 
> Ideas and code for improving accessibility are most welcome. Speaking for
> myself, I have no idea how these things work.

One idea I bear for some time is a speech output (take it as a fourth
messages option). That can free you from these popups, that I think are
sometimes quite annoying.

This can also warn you, when enemy units approach.

Since most freeciv messages consist of simple patterns, it should be
possible to record, store, and build them together, in ogg format for
example (Translators will need a mike :=).

The main issue is the map, though. Do you have any suggestions how this can
be made accessible for the blind? I fear there is no technique available to
achieve this.

Christian

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