Ronolog, a product of The Hephaestus Project

Warning! mIRC versions prior to 6.0 exhibit a known security hazard. Read details here. We recommend Ronolog users upgrade to mIRC 6.0 or a later version at once.

Ronolog is software running under Microsoft Windows® 95, 98, ME and 2000 which opens up the world of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to the blind and vision-impaired. Its use is entirely free to them, subject only to license restrictions. IRC is the Internet analog of Citizen's-Band (CB) radio. But unlike CB, IRC lets folks all over the world participate in real-time conversations at any time of day or year over virtually unlimited channels.The blind and their friends have welcomed Ronolog with enthusiasm since its creation at the start of 1999. Read what people say here.

Ronolog functions to supplement the IRC client software, mIRC®, using Microsoft Agent technology to render the text streams in mIRC as audible speech. This enables blind users to leverage the tremendous base of online volunteer help available for the support of mIRC.

Required auxiliary software - download Web pages

(Information current as of 2003 March 22)

The Ronolog versions below include download instructions for several software components provided by Microsoft. Their original locations may now be invalid. Microsoft now provides the downloads at this URL: http://www.microsoft.com/msagent/downloads.htm

A copy of the "Visual Basic 5 runtime" software you may also need appears to be located here: ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/simtelnet/win95/dll/vb500a.zip (It has not been tested.)

The previous (and recommended) release of Ronolog is version 1.20. It lets you choose between ten bundled North American English voices. Version 1.20 is available as a zip file here.

The most recent release of Ronolog is version 1.30. It was developed when Microsoft temporarily stopped publishing a file critical for the operation of previous versions. Version 1.30 provides the choice of a single male or female British English voice each. It is available as a zip file here.

The earliest release of Ronolog is version 1.0. We discourage new users from installing it, rather than the later versions, because of improvements. Version 1.0R is available as a zip file here (with revised documentation over version 1.0).

The ability to install Ronolog depends on the availabilty of critical Microsoft file downloads. RONHOWTO.TXT explains where to obtain these, at the time of writing. If you deploy Ronolog, remember to archive a copy of these critical files.

Ronolog may also be used by persons without disabilities who assist the blind and vision-impaired through one of the modest kindnesses specified by the license. (The preferred option is teaching one blind person to use Ronolog.) It also may be used without charge for 30 contiguous days by anyone agreeing to the license terms.

Ronolog has undergone a humble testing regimen and should not be difficult to install or operate by users of mIRC. But no official support for Ronolog is expected soon. Instead, we suggest that users help one another through the UseNet newsgroup, alt.comp.blind-users, or through the #Ronolog and #mIRCHelp channels on any IRC Network, preferably Undernet.

We cannot promise to reply, but you may also send e-mail here. Unless you explicitly stipulate otherwise, such e-mail becomes the intellectual property of Ronolog's copyright holder, with unlimited worldwide distribution rights in any medium.

We apologize for the GeoCities ads on this Web site which make access harder for the blind. The business model makes it possible for GeoCities to host the site at no charge to our project. GeoCities is also a nice hosting site because it is so well known and well-supported. Remember, the blind can be spared the ad problem by downloading the software directly from: http://geocities.datacellar.net/neohephaestus/Ronolog.zip

Thanks are due to all the folks who helped check the feature set and deployment of Ronolog! Additional comments concerning the use of Ronolog can be found here.

November 1999: In recent months, various Internet portals have added transmitted-voice-based chat, similar to traditional party-line telephony, to their services. This article in the San Francisco Chronicle points to several such resources and describes their value to the blind. Note that in contrast to Ronolog, such voice chat requires that EVERY participant to that chat install the SAME special software on his/her computer. In addition, far more is demanded of a slow dial-up Internet connection to transmit actual speech rather than the very economical text-based chat on which IRC is based. Finally, while a utility like Total Recorder v2.1 can be used to record voice chat, an IRC log is always much smaller and is also uniquely capable of being searched rapidly and easily by computer.