DECtalk Add-on for NVDA
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Don H
Is there a legal decktalk addon that will work with the upcoming version of NVDA?
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Roger Stewart
I'd like one of those as well. Someone sent me a trial version of one and it sort of worked. It made a few weird mistakes and needed work. This was several years back so it wouldn't even install in a new version of NVDA. I still have it somewhere if there's anyone who might be able to fix it up for today's use.
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Roger
On 7/9/2021 12:46 PM, Don H wrote:
Is there a legal decktalk addon that will work with the upcoming version of NVDA?
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Josh Kennedy
I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6.
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Gene
As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that
sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is possible
to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a SAPI 5 synthesizer,
but I’ve never heard of that either.
You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to purchase
Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the rather early days of
NVDA, and I think there would have been information on the list before this if
there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to ;purchase Dectalk, at least at
anything like a reasonable price, given the interest in Dectalk.
Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of
Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than the
Dectalk people expect.
Gene
-----Original Message-----
I
would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer
decTalk 4.41 through 4.6.
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David Goldfield
I agree with Gene. While I won’t say that I’ve done an exhaustive search the searching that I have done leads to nothing but dead ends. I specifically looked for Sapi5 voices as I seriously doubt that an NVDA addon exists that will be compatible with version 2021.1. So far I’ve found nothing that appears to be both legal as well as purchasable.
David Goldfield, Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist JAWS Certified, 2019 Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive emails regarding news and events in the blindness assistive technology field. Email: tech-vi+subscribe@groups.io
From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of
Gene
As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is possible to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a SAPI 5 synthesizer, but I’ve never heard of that either.
You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to purchase Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the rather early days of NVDA, and I think there would have been information on the list before this if there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to ;purchase Dectalk, at least at anything like a reasonable price, given the interest in Dectalk.
Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than the Dectalk people expect.
Gene
-----Original Message-----
I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6.
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Michael Micallef at FITA
I agree with Gene 100% the only dectalk version that is available is a hardware based in a usb versio, and its not cheap and because I never heard it I don’t know about its speech quality compared with the dectalk of the venerable window-eyes.
From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io>
On Behalf Of Gene via groups.io
CAUTION: This email originated from OUTSIDE the Government Email Infrastructure. DO NOT CLICK LINKS or OPEN attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.
As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is possible to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a SAPI 5 synthesizer, but I’ve never heard of that either.
You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to purchase Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the rather early days of NVDA, and I think there would have been information on the list before this if there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to ;purchase Dectalk, at least at anything like a reasonable price, given the interest in Dectalk.
Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than the Dectalk people expect.
Gene
-----Original Message-----
I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6.
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Michael Munn
David Grossgan used to have a website that have the Dectalk add-ons include Access 32. But, that add-on was out of support eversince NVDA 2019.3. Personally, I like Dectalk more than EloquencePersonal preference Member: Georgia Association of Blind Students National Federation of the Blind of Georgia Member: National association of Blind Students National Federation of the Blind Student of: Hadley Institute of the Blind
On Fri, Jul 9, 2021 at 10:07 PM Micallef Michael at FITA <michael.micallef@...> wrote:
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Josh Kennedy
I found Roger dudley on linkedin. Roger Dudley is the person who owns or used to won speech-fx-inc who bought decTalk from Fonix corporation, formerly digital equipment corporation back in the 1980s and 1990s. And so I tried contacting him onlinkedin several times and I got no reply. I found a phone number for speech-fx-inc and I called it and it is a dead discontinued phone number. I also getting in touch with people on linkedin who have connections to Roger Dudley and they tried helping me to get in touch with speech-fx, and they got no where just like me. Long story short it seems like decTalk is abandoned. Jake Gross's website has NVDA has decTalk addons.
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I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if one existed as well.
From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Micallef Michael at FITA
Sent: Friday, July 9, 2021 7:07 PM To: nvda@nvda.groups.io Subject: Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda
I agree with Gene 100% the only dectalk version that is available is a hardware based in a usb versio, and its not cheap and because I never heard it I don’t know about its speech quality compared with the dectalk of the venerable window-eyes.
From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene via groups.io
CAUTION: This email originated from OUTSIDE the Government Email Infrastructure. DO NOT CLICK LINKS or OPEN attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.
As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is possible to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a SAPI 5 synthesizer, but I’ve never heard of that either.
You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to purchase Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the rather early days of NVDA, and I think there would have been information on the list before this if there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to ;purchase Dectalk, at least at anything like a reasonable price, given the interest in Dectalk.
Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than the Dectalk people expect.
Gene -----Original Message-----
I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6.
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Curtis Delzer
I am using dectalk with NVDA 20000-4
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and hopefully the add-on will be updated. Seems it was legal when I got it. Curtis Delzer HS K 6 V F O Rialto, CA curtis@...
On 7/10/2021 12:33 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote:
I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if one existed as well.
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Ian Blackburn
The hardware dick talk is USB driven it sounds okay but I haven’t used one for at least 10 or 11 years
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On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:24 pm, Curtis Delzer <curtis@...> wrote:
I am using dectalk with NVDA 20000-4 and hopefully the add-on will be updated. Seems it was legal when I got it. Curtis Delzer HS K 6 V F O Rialto, CA curtis@... On 7/10/2021 12:33 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote: I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if one existed as well.
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Ian Blackburn
The deck talk that sounded the best was the one that was about as big as a flatbed scanner Version two it was
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On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:30 pm, Ian Blackburn <ianblackburn@...> wrote:
The hardware dick talk is USB driven it sounds okay but I haven’t used one for at least 10 or 11 years On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:24 pm, Curtis Delzer <curtis@...> wrote: I am using dectalk with NVDA 20000-4 and hopefully the add-on will be updated. Seems it was legal when I got it. Curtis Delzer HS K 6 V F O Rialto, CA curtis@... On 7/10/2021 12:33 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote: I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if one existed as well.
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Howard Traxler
Those old DECtalks were pretty big and were driven from a serial port (RS232). I have five of them that I have not tried with NVDA yet. If anyone would like one (or a couple) let me know, We could come to a deal.
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Howard
On 7/11/2021 3:34 AM, Ian Blackburn wrote:
The deck talk that sounded the best was the one that was about as big as a flatbed scanner Version two it was
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Roger Stewart
I have an old DecTalk unit as well. I just need a driver add-on for nvda to use it.
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Roger
On 7/11/2021 11:11 AM, Howard Traxler wrote:
Those old DECtalks were pretty big and were driven from a serial port (RS232). I have five of them that I have not tried with NVDA yet. If anyone would like one (or a couple) let me know, We could come to a deal.
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Gene
I don’t see how you can try them with NVDA unless you find a way that NVDA
can drive the unit. You would need some sort of add-on for that to be
possible or for some sort of Dectalk driver that works with whatever external
unit you are using to be incorporated into NVDA as a speech option.
Gene
-----Original Message-----
From: Howard Traxler
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2021 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda Those
old DECtalks were pretty big and were driven from a serial port
(RS232). I have five of them that I have not tried with NVDA yet. If anyone would like one (or a couple) let me know, We could come to a deal. Howard On 7/11/2021 3:34 AM, Ian Blackburn wrote: > The deck talk that sounded the best was the one that was about as big as a flatbed scanner Version two it was > On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:30 pm, Ian Blackburn <ianblackburn@...> wrote: > > The hardware dick talk is USB driven it sounds okay but I haven’t used one for at least 10 or 11 years > On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:24 pm, Curtis Delzer <curtis@...> wrote: > > I am using dectalk with NVDA 20000-4 > and hopefully the add-on will be updated. Seems it was legal when I got it. > > Curtis Delzer > HS > K 6 V F O > Rialto, CA > > curtis@... > > On 7/10/2021 12:33 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote: >> I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if one existed as well. >> *From:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> *On Behalf Of *Micallef Michael at FITA >> *Sent:* Friday, July 9, 2021 7:07 PM >> *To:* nvda@nvda.groups.io >> *Subject:* Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda >> I agree with Gene 100% the only dectalk version that is available is a hardware based in a usb versio, and its not cheap and because I never heard it I don’t know about its speech quality compared with the dectalk of the venerable window-eyes. >> *From:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> <nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io>> *On Behalf Of *Gene via groups.io >> *Sent:* Saturday, 10 July 2021 02:01 >> *To:* nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> >> *Subject:* Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda >> CAUTION:This email originated from OUTSIDE the Government Email Infrastructure. DO NOT CLICK LINKS or OPEN attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. >> As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is possible to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a SAPI 5 synthesizer, but I’ve never heard of that either. >> You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to purchase Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the rather early days of NVDA, and I think there would have been information on the list before this if there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to ;purchase Dectalk, at least at anything like a reasonable price, given the interest in Dectalk. >> Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than the Dectalk people expect. >> Gene >> -----Original Message----- >> *From:*Josh Kennedy <mailto:joshknnd1982@...> >> *Sent:*Friday, July 09, 2021 6:42 PM >> *To:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> >> *Subject:*Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda >> I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
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simon wheatcroft
Hi,
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I tested with an external keyboard and the control + alt behaviour persisted. I put it down to an issue within the ARM insiders build. The link i provided a few messages ago goes into depth about why windows has this feature now and that it can’t be turned off. As another data point, i have a Microsoft surface too running standard windows 10. The control + alt behaviour does not exist on that machine. I am sure there is an explenation to it all, but i found the keyboard layout creation tool solved it for the insiders build. I have my fingers crossed that in Windows 11 ARM edition there is no need for the remapping f keys.
On 11 Jul 2021, at 17:27, Gene <gsasner@...> wrote:
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Arlene
Boy! I thought Dectalk was a thing of the past. I haven’t used it after my dectalk express bit the dust. It died 12 years ago. I haven’t used any dectalk synth since then. I’m glad its still around for those who like it. I don’t think I’ll go back to it.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Curtis Delzer
Sent: July 11, 2021 1:24 AM To: nvda@nvda.groups.io Subject: Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda
I am using dectalk with NVDA 20000-4 and hopefully the add-on will be updated. Seems it was legal when I got it.
Curtis Delzer HS K 6 V F O Rialto, CA
curtis@...
On 7/10/2021 12:33 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote: > I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if > one existed as well. > > *From:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> *On Behalf Of *Micallef > Michael at FITA > *Sent:* Friday, July 9, 2021 7:07 PM > *To:* nvda@nvda.groups.io > *Subject:* Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda > > I agree with Gene 100% the only dectalk version that is available is a > hardware based in a usb versio, and its not cheap and because I never > heard it I don’t know about its speech quality compared with the dectalk > of the venerable window-eyes. > > *From:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> > <nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io>> *On Behalf Of *Gene > via groups.io > *Sent:* Saturday, 10 July 2021 02:01 > *To:* nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> > *Subject:* Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda > > CAUTION:This email originated from OUTSIDE the Government Email > Infrastructure. DO NOT CLICK LINKS or OPEN attachments unless you > recognise the sender and know the content is safe. > > As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that > sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is > possible to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a > SAPI 5 synthesizer, but I’ve never heard of that either. > > You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to > purchase Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the > rather early days of NVDA, and I think there would have been information > on the list before this if there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to > ;purchase Dectalk, at least at anything like a reasonable price, given > the interest in Dectalk. > > Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of > Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than > the Dectalk people expect. > > Gene > > -----Original Message----- > > *From:*Josh Kennedy <mailto:joshknnd1982@...> > > *Sent:*Friday, July 09, 2021 6:42 PM > > *To:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> > > *Subject:*Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda > > I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I > prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6. > >
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Arlene
Oh yes they were. That’s why Iam glad my dectalk express bit the dust. It was driven by a serial port. These newer computers do not have support for those kinds of things. That’s why I’m truly glad my dectalk express died. For that reason I do not want to go back to it as much as I liked it.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Howard Traxler
Sent: July 11, 2021 9:11 AM To: nvda@nvda.groups.io Subject: Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda
Those old DECtalks were pretty big and were driven from a serial port (RS232). I have five of them that I have not tried with NVDA yet. If anyone would like one (or a couple) let me know, We could come to a deal.
Howard
On 7/11/2021 3:34 AM, Ian Blackburn wrote: > The deck talk that sounded the best was the one that was about as big as a flatbed scanner Version two it was > On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:30 pm, Ian Blackburn <ianblackburn@...> wrote: > > The hardware dick talk is USB driven it sounds okay but I haven’t used one for at least 10 or 11 years > On 11 Jul 2021, at 4:24 pm, Curtis Delzer <curtis@...> wrote: > > I am using dectalk with NVDA 20000-4 > and hopefully the add-on will be updated. Seems it was legal when I got it. > > Curtis Delzer > HS > K 6 V F O > Rialto, CA > > curtis@... > > On 7/10/2021 12:33 PM, Sarah k Alawami wrote: >> I also like decktalk and eloquence, I would pay for a decktlak add on if one existed as well. >> *From:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> *On Behalf Of *Micallef Michael at FITA >> *Sent:* Friday, July 9, 2021 7:07 PM >> *To:* nvda@nvda.groups.io >> *Subject:* Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda >> I agree with Gene 100% the only dectalk version that is available is a hardware based in a usb versio, and its not cheap and because I never heard it I don’t know about its speech quality compared with the dectalk of the venerable window-eyes. >> *From:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> <nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io>> *On Behalf Of *Gene via groups.io >> *Sent:* Saturday, 10 July 2021 02:01 >> *To:* nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> >> *Subject:* Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda >> CAUTION:This email originated from OUTSIDE the Government Email Infrastructure. DO NOT CLICK LINKS or OPEN attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. >> As far as I know, there is no legal Dectalk add-on at least not one that sounds at all like what would be expected. I don’t know if it is possible to purchase Dectalk as a stand alone synthesizer, such as a SAPI 5 synthesizer, but I’ve never heard of that either. >> You may be able to get more information about the legal ability to purchase Dectalk with a search but I’ve been on this list since the rather early days of NVDA, and I think there would have been information on the list before this if there were a legal add-on, and a legal way to ;purchase Dectalk, at least at anything like a reasonable price, given the interest in Dectalk. >> Years ago, someone who worked with Dectalk provided a legal version of Dectalk but it was evidently very old and it sounded very different than the Dectalk people expect. >> Gene >> -----Original Message----- >> *From:*Josh Kennedy <mailto:joshknnd1982@...> >> *Sent:*Friday, July 09, 2021 6:42 PM >> *To:*nvda@nvda.groups.io <mailto:nvda@nvda.groups.io> >> *Subject:*Re: [nvda] decktalk addon for nvda >> I would like a decTalk addon that works with NVDA2021.1 as well, but I prefer decTalk 4.41 through 4.6. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
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Roger Stewart
There are USB to serial adapters though
that will allow them to work if there were a driver for it.
Roger
On 7/11/2021 3:29 PM, Arlene wrote:
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Pamela Dominguez
Yes, so do I. Much much more! For one thing, eloquence doesn’t know how to pitch its voice. If you have a long sentence without commas or other punctuation, it will wind down, as if it has a dead battery. Then, when it encounters the next mark, it sort of takes a breath, and the voice goes back up to the top. That is only one thing I don’t like about eloquence. Pam.
David Grossgan used to have a website that have the Dectalk add-ons include Access 32. But, that add-on was out of support eversince NVDA 2019.3. Personally, I like Dectalk more than EloquencePersonal preference
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