Linux Screen Reader
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The Linux Screen Reader (LSR) is a discontinued
free and open source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free ...
effort to develop an extensible
assistive technology Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for Disability, people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, ...
for the
GNOME A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...
desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphi ...
. The goal of the project was to create a reusable development platform for building alternative and supplemental user interfaces in support of people with diverse disabilities. The original use of the LSR platform was to give people with visual impairments access to the GNOME desktop and its business applications (e.g.
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,
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,
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) using speech,
Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...
, and screen magnification. The extensions packaged with the LSR core were intended to meet this end. LSR was an alternative to
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, but there were a number of non-competitive reasons for having two extensible assistive technologies for the GNOME desktop. * Two implementations stress test desktop accessibility in non-overlapping ways: * Two design philosophies explore different ideas for system architectures and user interfaces. * Two products enable user choice based on the task at hand, personal preferences, and the individual strengths of the two systems. * There is ton of room for innovation in the field of enabling technology. Linux Screen Reader (LSR) was started in 2006 by
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
. Initially, LSR was released with the
Common Public License In computing, the Common Public License (CPL) is a free software / open-source software license published by IBM. The Free Software Foundation and Open Source Initiative have approved the license terms of the CPL. Definition The CPL has the stat ...
but on November 29, 2006, the version 0.3.2 was switched to the
New BSD License BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses, imposing minimal restrictions on the use and distribution of covered software. This is in contrast to copyleft licenses, which have share-alike requirements. The original BSD licen ...
. It was discontinued in 2007 when IBM focused their resources in other projects.


Maintainers list

The maintainers managed the development process with the help of many other members of the GNOME community: * Larry Weiss * Brett Clippingdale * Peter Parente Other developers who made great contributions to the project were Pete Brunet, Eirikur Hallgrimsson, Scott Haeger, Eitan Isaacson, Andy Shi, Critóbal Palmer and Joel Feiner.


References

{{Reflist Free screen readers GNOME Accessibility GNOME obsolete