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You think that will run on the netbook that he owns?

Well, if it can run on the notebook s/he owns, s/he can simply use the default Apple speech synthesizer, which probably works just as well as anything that runs under GNU/Linux/BSD. Unfortunately, for visually impaired people, MS Windows is probably still the best platform for running graphical applications (i.e. applications that haven't been specially written for blind users).

For users not tied down to using graphical programs like LibreOffice, there are pure console or command line programs like emacspeak and edbrowse, both of which are written by programmers who are themselves visually impaired.

The author of edbrowse, a program inspired by the classic Unix "ed"-itor, has this to say about screen-reading programs:

I believe, and I am in the minority on this one, that totally blind users should employ command-line applications, rather than pasting a screen reader on top of full-screen programs. Manipulating the cursor via speech is irreparably inefficient. To this end I have written a combination editor + browser + mail client that is command-line interactive. You type something and the computer responds. There is no screen, anywhere, ever.

If you watch a sighted Linux user for an hour, you will notice that he spends most of his time in screen applications.

These should help... I'm still astounded at the laziness of /.ers who'll gabble on and on w/o googling something like "linux blind" and seeing what turns up

The standard unix tools need to be redesigned to be as easily spoken as they are interperated by the average user.
Absolutely. There's a nice article on this. The author implemented an "ls" which outputs "644" on "ls -p". I'm all for something like that. Special switches to GNU ls or whatever to allow things like this. As long as there are enough letters left for parameters, do it.

And then, there is /bin/ed of course ;).

With my poor eyesight, I've been, in a manner of speaking, on the look-out for software that would enable me to type without a computer monitor, an nVidia-free computing experience.

To my surprise, I found it much easier to surf the Internet using a no-frills terminal reader like yasr with an HTML-aware line editor called edbrowse than using any "screen scraper" bolted atop a fancy desktop environment like Gnome or OSX. The author of edbrowse, a blind user and programmer, describes edbrowse as a "re-implementation" of the classic Unix line editor ed but "with browse capabilities built in."

Both braille and speech have a sequential information flow, while most software (even vi, emacs, lynx) present information in a two-dimensional way.

So it depends a lot on the user. Maybe for somebody born blind, or for an experienced Unix guy, the command line (not even emacspeak) would be great. This guy actually wrote an application that let you browse websites through ed.
But I can imagine that someone used two Windows would like to stick with Windows, especially if he became blind at a later age, so has little trouble with navigating through two-dimensional information.

Most blind users seem to find speech interfaces easier than braille. Especially since with braille, you can't read and type at the same time (unless you use a one handed keyboard). Braille interfaces are better for programming and other syntax-heavy tasks.

But in the end, to be attractive to the 'average' blind user, software should be
- similar in use and functionaly to current mainstream apps, i.e. not require remembering a lot of commands and syntax
- present information as sequentially as possible and provide for easy navigation

Try running your app in a 1 line X-terminal, to get an idea of how blind users have to navigate.

As jefe289 pointed out, this article has a good description of one blind Linux user's setup, including a custom ls command and line editor/web browser available for download. I believe there's a distro called blinux so you don't have to compile a kernel and find all the programs for her. If all she needs, though, is email, speakup and an email-to-text-to-email system (fetchmail and sendmail?) should be easy enough (for a POSIX/*NIX user--some set up by a non-blind user will be required for any configuration) to set up with a pop or imap server. I'll provide more information if requested.

I've always thought this was so well put, it
inspired me to try it: unplug my monitor and go.

http://www.eklhad.net/cli.html

Blind + Linux = BLINUX
"The purpose of BLINUX project is to improve usability of the LINUX operating system for the user who is blind"

It also turns out that the Command Line Interface is better for blind users than a GUI:

Unfortunately, almost all modern applications present information in a two-dimensional format, and most employ graphical icons that have no meaning for the blind. Since it is impractical to rewrite all these applications, the blind community has been forced to perform a rather awkward retrofit, using various adapters. We should recognize that this is not the ideal solution. Pasting a screen reader on top of Netscape makes it accessible, but the result is hardly efficient. Over the past decade a small minority of blind users have discovered Linux, a free, text-based operating system for the home computer. Linux applications rarely employ graphics, and most of them are already linear, just like the mode (speech or braille) that is our Karma. All other things being equal, Linux is the best operating system for a blind user.

Interesting to say the least...and Open Source makes it possible for (non profit) institutions closely acquainted with working with disabled people to adapt the software as necessary.....rather than relying on the perception and motivations of a (profit minded) corporation(s).

I hate moving my right hand back and forth from mouse back to the keyboard.

Originally I wanted to write smth different but looking for documets to support my post I have found
a page describing a hack to make any keyboard under Linux to be one handed. I'll go and try that at home.

I hate moving my right hand back and forth from mouse back to the keyboard.

Originally I wanted to write smth different but looking for documets to support my post I have found
a page describing a hack to make any keyboard under Linux to be one handed. I'll go and try that at home.

CLI is obviously easier to scrape well.
The Blinux Project(not a distro.)
A SuSE Linux article on Blinux(Writen by a blind SuSE Developer)

This is an interesting link, The Command-Line Interface - Ideal For Blind Users. It is a detailed discussion of what makes a computer more user friendly for blind users.

Here's a quote: "Linux applications rarely employ graphics, and most of them are already linear, just like the mode (speech or braille) that is our Karma. All other things being equal, Linux is the best operating system for a blind user."

The author makes several interesting points like 'ed' is better than 'vi' or 'emacs' and mentions some interesting tweaks to basic utilities such as 'ls' to make it more usable for the blind.