#Google Summer of Code 2021: EFI audio output protocol
The goal of my GSoC 2021 project was to develop an audio output protocol capable of interfacing with audio devices with the future long-term goal of making the EFI pre-boot environment accessible to disabled individuals using text-to-speech (TTS), braille displays, and other devices designed to make the user experience of the preboot environment accessible.
A lot of discussion occurred on the EDK II mailing list about what needs to be added for this to work. However, the general concensus was that audio output to an audio device is required as the first step before anything else could occur. We discussed various audio output standards (primarily VirtIO, USB, and Intel's high definition audio specification). For each, various major roadblocks were encountered, not all of which could be overcome:
- Originally, VirtIO was considered as the first and primary option because it was available in Linux systems already and appeared to require v