– Hello Philippe. To start this interview, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
With pleasure. My name is Philippe Néau. I live in Vendée, in western France, and I am 67 years old. I lost my sight 48 years ago following a car accident caused by heavy fog and by the fact that – at that time – windshields shattered into thousands of small pieces.
I quickly realized that I would need to reinvent myself. I was about to turn 20, and my future was still very much ahead of me. I went back to school to complete the equivalent of a high school diploma, then continued my studies with professional training in physical therapy, first in Paris and later in Limoges.
I completed this training in 1985 and was hired in Les Sables-d’Olonne, where I worked as a physical therapist for 31 years before retiring in 2016. That sums up my professional reinvention, and I still live in Les Sables-d’Olonne, about thirty kilometers from La Roche-sur-Yon, my hometown.
– Under what circumstances did you get into computing?
When you are blind, computers offer a gateway to the world because they provide access to written information, even if it is through a screen reader utility using a speech synthesizer. It is important to remember that access to written material once relied almost entirely on Braille, with all its constraints. Books were often outdated, whereas today, thanks to computers and speech synthesis, blind people have access to general, up-to-date, and universal information.
Braille is, of course, still relevant, especially within associations, but it is relatively expensive, requires specific learning, and is time-consuming, even though people who are blind from birth can be very fast readers.
I lost my sight in 1977 and began using computers a few years later, as soon as the first computer-based speech synthesizers became available (see note 1).
– How did you move to Linux?
I stayed with Windows up to version 10. But when I realized how much tracking and monitoring was involved, as people often say, I first went back to Windows 8. Later, I learned that Linux seemed more interesting because it does not require antivirus software and is generally more secure, which was reassuring for me.
I switched about ten years ago to a Debian-based distribution, with Orca as my screen reader. For better listening comfort, I purchased the Voxin speech synthesizer, which I appreciate because it sounds more natural and human than many other synthetic voices.
– Emmabuntüs also includes Piper. What do you think of it?
I did try it, but you need to find applications that work well with it, especially for long-form reading such as books, because its processing speed is relatively slow. Personally, I do not do much long-form reading. These days, I mostly spend time on social networks or quickly reading PDFs using speech synthesis.
– Going back a bit, how did you meet Patrick and Emmabuntüs?
It happened through a meeting about the June libre currency. One of the participants later mentioned to Claude, the president of the YOVOTOGO association, that a blind person was using a Linux computer. We then got in touch and later met again at another June meeting.
This led me to contact Patrick via WhatsApp and to the setup of a refurbished computer on which Emmabuntüs was installed.
– Now that you are retired, what are your interests?
I am quite passionate about computing, sometimes out of necessity. For example, I recently tried to make an online purchase, and it took a very long time because some e-commerce websites are not very accessible for blind users. CAPTCHA tests are especially problematic, as they completely block access unless an audio version is available.
Even audio CAPTCHAs can be difficult, as they speak sometimes in hard-to-understand English, so you end up reloading them in the hope of getting a French voice. Sometimes you also spend a lot of time filling out a form only to encounter, at the very end, a blocking CAPTCHA or a session timeout. It can be extremely frustrating.
– In those situations, are there people or organizations that can help you occasionally?
Yes, there are associations, but they usually intervene through training sessions lasting one or several days to help people learn how to use a new piece of software. They are not designed for one-off personal troubleshooting.
Over the years, with experience, you learn to troubleshoot on your own, move forward, and discover new solutions independently.
– In that spirit, you must be glad to be able to test the new Emmabuntüs system.
Patrick explained to me that Emmabuntüs includes many software applications because in some countries, such as Togo, internet connections can be unreliable or even nonexistent, unlike in our region. It is also very useful to have books in ePub or DAISY format available on the computer and to be able to read them offline.
Some of the software I already use on my current computer, such as the Thunderbird email client, I did not reconfigure on Emmabuntüs because I already have enough trouble managing duplicates and synchronizing my phone with my computer.
I also have a neighbor who is an IT specialist who, for a very reasonable maintenance fee, helped me improve the initial configuration of my computer and discover other ways of accessing my Debian system. Now I manage quite well on my own.
That computer had originally been configured and maintained by the Hypra association, for which I had also carried out tests to identify navigation difficulties on websites for people who cannot see and for whom many things are far from intuitive.
I also notice that using my smartphone is becoming increasingly difficult. Even with mental visualization, you have to be extremely careful about where you touch the screen. On one occasion, my phone suddenly started speaking Japanese, and I could not switch it back. I showed it to a sighted person, who was also unable to fix the problem because the interface itself was in Japanese. During another attempt, I recognized a few Japanese words and eventually managed to restore French, but after some very uncomfortable moments.
– How do you manage to get around outdoors? Do you use a guide dog?
Taking a train trip, even just 50 kilometers from home, can sometimes be as unpredictable as traveling to Beijing, Cuba, or Yokohama. On one occasion, I arrived at a station where there was no bus and no taxi, and by pure chance someone offered to help and drove me to my destination. So we always need to plan with wide margins and be very patient to make sure we arrive on time.
Walking in my neighborhood is less of a problem because I have lived there for a long time and use the Tom Pouce device, which helps anticipate obstacles and adjust my path accordingly. I also feel comfortable in La Roche-sur-Yon because I still have visual landmarks from before my accident. In a foreign city, however, everything quickly becomes much more complicated.
I never wanted a guide dog. First, because of my professional activity—it would have had to lie under a table for more than seven hours a day. Second, because I travel abroad frequently, and having a dog during long trips is not always practical.
In fact, I practice Esperanto, and every year an international Esperanto congress is organized in a different city around the world. This event has been well established for a long time—the first World Esperanto Congress dates back to 1905 in France—and it feels like a close-knit family. There is a great deal of mutual support among Esperantists, which has allowed me to travel far from home. In that context, having a guide dog was not necessarily the best option.
– How did your interest in Esperanto begin?
I first heard about Esperanto in middle school, around the age of fifteen, and I immediately thought it was a great idea. Then, in 1994, I heard a radio program in which someone presented arguments in favor of Esperanto. At the end of the program, I called the station and obtained the contact details of a blind Esperantist who became my teacher for ten lessons, using Braille and audio cassettes.
I then continued learning on my own, and this wonderful journey led to my first international trips. Thanks to Esperanto, I have been able to travel to 11 different countries. At each congress, around 60 countries are represented, although participants from some less advantaged regions cannot always attend due to the cost of long-distance travel.
– Does any speech synthesizer support Esperanto?
Yes, there is one available in eSpeak, but it is extremely robotic, tiring, and unpleasant to listen to. There was also a Croatian voice that I once managed to use on Windows, but I was unable to transfer it to Linux.
– Thank you, Philippe, for your time. I hope we can continue working together around the Emmabuntüs distribution.
See you soon—or aŭ ĝis baldaŭ in Esperanto.
Note 1: Key milestones in speech synthesis
In 1961, John Larry Kelly Jr., a physicist at Bell Labs, used an IBM computer to synthesize speech. His vocoder (a voice recording synthesizer) famously recreated the song Daisy Bell.
In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh with the MacinTalk speech synthesis system.
In 1995, Microsoft integrated its first text-to-speech (TTS) engine into Windows 95.
In 1999, Microsoft launched Narrator, a screen reader solution that is now included in every version of Microsoft Windows.
Note 2: Tom Pouce [Tom Thumb]
Tom Pouce is a removable electronic device developed by the Visio Foundation, a recognized public-interest organization, which transforms a traditional white cane into an electronic one. The device uses infrared beams and a laser to detect obstacles, whether stationary or moving, at an adjustable distance of 1 to 15 meters (3 to 50 feet) in front of the user, as well as overhead obstacles up to 2.5 meters (about 8 feet). It anticipates collision risks, including elevated obstacles such as shop awnings or tree branches, by signaling their presence through vibrations transmitted to the user’s hand.