This document describes how one could quickly test if a new package works
resonably well. The idea was posted on
http://lists.debian.org/debian-accessibility/2013/10/msg00026.html

Emacspeak comes with a software synthesiser in the package
emacspeak-espeak-server I recommend to test emacspeak with that
synthesiser to also confirm that that works. If not the case after
installation of emacspeak-espeak-server, you need the following in
/etc/emacspeak.conf:

paul@wollumbin ~ $ cat /etc/emacspeak.conf
# emacspeak configuration file
#
#
if [ "$DTK_PROGRAM" = "" ]; then
DTK_PROGRAM=espeak
fi
if [ "$DTK_TCL" = "" ]; then
DTK_TCL=tcl
fi
if [ "$DTK_PORT" = "" ]; then
DTK_PORT=none
fi
if [ "$DTK_DEVICE" = "" ]; then
DTK_DEVICE="espeak"
fi
export DTK_PROGRAM DTK_PORT DTK_DEVICE
if [ "$DTK_TCL" != "" ]; then export DTK_TCL; fi
# End of /etc/emacspeak.conf

Running emacspeak is actually simpler then you might think.

Simply run "emacspeak" from the command-line, and wait for it to talk to
you.  If you have choosen the "espeak" speech backend as described above
and your ALSA setup is working, emacspeak should talk to
you right away with a welcome message something like "Press C-h C-e to
get an overview of Emacspeak 38.0.  Revision unknown.  I am completely
operational and all my circuits are functioning perfectly."

At least thats what the current version in unstable does for me.

If you are familiar with Emacs, just use it a bit and listen to what you
get as feedback from the speech synthesizer.  If you are not familiar
with Emacs, learn it, or exit with C-x C-c (Ctrl+x followed by Ctrl+c)
(you will need to confirm exiting since the emacspeak speech server
process is an active task and emacs prefers to ask you if you really
want to kill it implicitly by exiting.)
