Comment Re:meanwhile... (Score 1) 181
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.