Built by Matthew
Campbell
June 26, 2000
ZipSpeak is a talking mini-distribution of Linux for blind and visually impaired people, based on version 7.1 of the ZipSlack distribution and version 0.09a of the Speakup screen reader. ZipSpeak is designed to be easily installed on an existing MS-DOS or Windows system, so that the user can start using a talking Linux system with little difficulty and without help from someone who can see.
The standard version of ZipSpeak consists of a ZIP file which contains the main distribution; a set of Linux kernels, one for each supported speech synthesizer; a set of boot disk images for these kernels, along with an image that doesn't include Speakup; a utility for making boot disks from these images; and some documentation. There are also customized versions of ZipSpeak in which the appropriate kernel for a specific speech synthesizer is included in the ZIP file, and the boot disk for that synthesizer is the only incldued talking boot disk. A customized version for any supported synthesizer is available on request from me.
You must have one of the following speech synthesizers to use ZipSpeak; you can't use it with only a sound card.
To install ZipSpeak, first follow the standard ZipSlack installation procedure explained in README.1st. The only difference is that in this case, the ZIP file is named ZIPSPEAK.ZIP, not ZIPSLACK.ZIP.
Now you need to select and install a talking kernel. There are currently eleven kernels provided with ZipSpeak, one for each supported synthesizer:
Download the appropriate kernel for your synthesizer if you don't have it already, and copy it to \LINUX\VMLINUZ.SPK on the drive where you are installing ZipSpeak. Now follow the instructions in README.1st for starting the system. If you are running a DOS screen reader, you must unload it before starting Linuz.
In addition to the standard LINUX.BAT file which you use to start Linux with Speakup, there is a file called LINUXNS.BAT which you can use to start Linux without Speakup. This file uses the standard kernel in \LINUX\VMLINUZ. It can be helpful if a sighted person wants to use your Linux system without speech, or if you want to use some other speech software like Emacspeak.
ZipSpeak includes a talking boot disk for each supported synthesizer. Each boot disk's file name is the same as the name of the corresponding kernel except that the extension is .IMG. If you want to use the standard boot disk (without Speakup), it is called BOOTDISK.NS in ZipSpeak.
Finally, once you have started the system, you can customize Speakup with the speakupconfig utility. This utility is pretty straightforward, but you can find a few notes about it in the /usr/doc/speakupconfig/README file. For greater control over your speech synthesizer, you can edit the /etc/speakup.conf file and then load it with loadspk. You can find loadspk documentation in the /usr/doc/loadspk directory. You can find additional Speakup documentation in the /usr/doc/speakup directory.
If you have any questions or comments about ZipSpeak, please email me.
--Matthew Campbell