speechd-el 2.8 released
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* What is speechd-el?

  speechd-el is an Emacs client to speech synthesizers, Braille displays
  and other alternative output interfaces.  It provides full speech and
  Braille output environment for Emacs using the Speech Dispatcher and
  BRLTTY backends.  It is focused especially on (but not limited to) the
  blind and visually impaired users.  It allows the user to work with
  Emacs without looking on the screen, by listening to speech output
  produced by the speech synthesizers supported in Speech Dispatcher and
  watching Braille output on Braille displays supported by BRLTTY.
  
  Key speechd-el features are:

  - Speech output and Braille input/output.
  
  - Automated "intelligent" reading of most Emacs messages and actions.
    Additional commands for explicit reading.

  - Message priorities, voice parameter changes, sound icons and other
    features provided by Speech Dispatcher.

  - Multilingual support.
    
  - Almost no change of the standard Emacs behavior, no interference
    with user settings.
  
  - Highly configurable.

  - Possibility to add support for other alternative output methods.

  - Elisp libraries for generic speech, Braille and other kinds of
    output as well as for alternative user interface programming.

  - Small code size.

  - Free Software, distributed under the GPL.

  More information about speechd-el (including comparison with
  Emacspeak) can be found on its web page, see
  http://devel.freebsoft.org/speechd-el .

* What is new in the 2.8 version?

  ** XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable is honored now.

  Thanks to Alain Kalker for this change.

* Where to get it?

  The easiest way to install speechd-el is to use the package from MELPA
  (http://melpa.milkbox.net/) or from Debian (if you use Debian or one
  of its derivatives).  You'll also need Speech Dispatcher and/or BRLTTY.

  The source code is available in git repository
  git://git.freebsoft.org/git/speechd-el

  The source package of the released version is available at
  http://devel.freebsoft.org/pub/projects/speechd-el/speechd-el-2.8.tar.gz .

  The home page of the project is http://devel.freebsoft.org/speechd-el .


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