http://git.gnome.org/browse/orca/commit/?id=d29e77d03d80c91331cec9238240d2b3c85f106a

Joanie,

I was thinking of having something like:
in default.py:
def presentMessage(self, speechMsg, brailleMsg=None):
    if brailleMsg == None:
        brailleMsg = speechMsg
    if settings.enableSpeech:
        speech.speak(speechMsg)
    if settings.enableBraille:
        self.displayBrailleMessage(inputLine, \
                      flashTime=settings.brailleFlashTime)


Then from anywhere in code:
self.presentMessage(_("Speech enabled"))

this should mean that we dont use displayBrailleMessage from anywhere else in code (if speech and braille are equal)

Amazing :) already done, as they say great minds think alike, i wish i was anything like you.

Yup. And ultimately we can expand presentMessage's functionality to take a brief speech message, a verbose speech message, a brief braille message, and a verbose braille message, and also a flashTime and cursor position.

As I mentioned on the list, goal one is simply to address the inaccessibility issue for braille-only users. I'm working on all of this actively now (as you've noticed). My hope is that Orca users will give us timely feedback (they usually do) so that we can refine things well before the GNOME 3.0 release, which brings me to:

Goal two is to tweak the braille output based on feedback from our existing speech-braille users and our very few (perhaps one?) braille-primary user who is not hearing-impaired (to my knowledge) and thus could use speech, but typically doesn't.

Goal three is to reconnect with actual Deaf-Blind users (we had a few like ... four years ago, but they've since moved on) and further enhance our support to meet their needs.