2.2.2.1. Starting the Screen Reader Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Edit the AccessKeyMouseEvents file to associate keyboard shortcuts with assistive technologies. For example, the following lines enable you to press and hold Ctrl-S or Ctrl-M for one second to either start speech or magnification:

<Control>s 1 1000 10000 /usr/bin/orca -n -d main-window

<Control>m 1 1000 10000 /usr/bin/orca -n -d main-window -e magnifier

2.2.2.2. Starting On-Screen Keyboard Using a Switch or Button Gesture

Edit the AccessKeyMouseEvents file to associate switch, key, or button gestures with assistive technologies. Since the primary input device for many On-Screen Keyboard users is a switch or button, this is a good way to enable users to start On-Screen Keyboard at login time.

If there is a tendency for a user to start an application unintentionally, you can associate the gestures with multiple switch presses or minimum durations. For example, the following line starts On-Screen Keyboard in inverse scanning mode when the user presses the switch that is defined as Switch 2 three times within two seconds, for a minimum of 100 milliseconds for each press:

<Switch2>3 100 2000 gok --login --accessmethod=inversescanning --scan-action=switch1 --select-action=switch2

Users who use single switches may prefer to start On-Screen Keyboard in automatic scanning mode. The following line starts On-Screen Keyboard in automatic scanning mode when the user presses the switch on an alternative access device for more than four seconds:

<Switch>1 4000 5000 gok --login --accessmethod=automaticscanning --scan-action=switch1 --select-action=switch1

For information about the On-Screen Keyboard operating modes, see the online help for On-Screen Keyboard.

2.2.2.3. Starting On-Screen Keyboard Using a Motion-Only Gesture

You can define gestures that involve only the motion of a pointing device such as a mouse, or an alternative pointing device, such as a head pointer or trackball. The syntax of the gesture does not change depending on whether you are using a mouse or an alternative pointing device. Edit the AccessKeyMouseEvents file to associate motion gestures with assistive technologies.

If the dwellmouselistener GtkModule is loaded, alternative pointing devices are temporarily latched to the core pointer. This means that if the user moves the alternative pointing device, the on-screen pointer moves.

For example, the following line starts On-Screen Keyboard in dwell mode when the user moves the on-screen pointer from inside the login dialog through the top edge, back into the dialog through the top edge, out of the dialog through the left edge, back into the dialog through the left edge, and similarly through the bottom and right edges of the dialog in a cross pattern:

TTLLBBRR O 10000 gok --login --access-method=dwellselection --input-device=MOUSE[3]

Note that the --input-device parameter specified in the gesture must match the name of the extended user input device, such as a head pointer or trackball, as specified in /etc/X11/XF86Config.

2.3.1.1. Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table lists the essential keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate the desktop. The keyboard shortcuts that you use to navigate specific elements and controls are described in the appropriate sections of this chapter.

2.3.1.2. Global Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use from any part of the GNOME Desktop.

Keys	Function
Alt-F1	Open the Main Applications Menu. You can customize this keyboard shortcut. For Solaris systems, this key is Ctrl-Esc (as with Microsoft Windows).
Alt-F2	Open the Run Application dialog. You can customize this keyboard shortcut. For Solaris systems, this key is Meta-R (as with Microsoft Windows). A meta- or super-key is an OS-logo shift key.
Print Screen	Start the screenshot application and take a screenshot of the entire screen. You can customize this keyboard shortcut.
Alt- Print Screen	Start the screenshot application and take a screenshot of the window that currently has focus. You can customize this keyboard shortcut.
F1	If the focused element is an application window or dialog, this keyboard shortcut opens the Help for the application.
Ctrl-F1	If the focused element is a panel or application window, this keyboard shortcut switches the display of tooltips for the window or panel objects on and off.
Shift-F10	Open a popup menu for the element that has focus (if a popup menu exists for that element).

2.3.3.1. Moving Panel Objects

You can move a focused panel object to a different location on a panel or drawer, or you can move the object to the next panel. To move a panel object, perform the following steps:

1. Press Tab to give focus to the object.

2. Press Shift-F10 to open the panel object popup menu.

3. Use the arrow keys to select the Move menu item.

4. Use the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in the following table to perform the move operation:

   Keys	Function
   arrow keys	Move the object left/right on a horizontal panel, or up/down on a vertical panel.
   Shift + arrow keys	Move the object with focus, swapping positions with any other objects encountered.
   Ctrl + arrow keys	Move the object, swapping positions with any other objects that you encounter in the move.
   Tab	Move the object to the next panel.
   spacebar	Complete the move operation.

The following examples demonstrate the effect of different move operations on the objects in a panel:

Panel applications that are Locked cannot be moved. To unlock a panel application, use the panel object menu and deselect the Lock to Panel option.

2.3.3.2. Navigating Drawers

A drawer is a collapsible extension of a panel. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate into and out of drawers. When you open a drawer, you can navigate the contents of the drawer in the same way as you navigate a panel. See Section 2.3.3 for information about how to navigate a panel.

2.3.3.3. Navigating Panel Menus

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate menus on panels:

2.3.3.4. Navigating Panel Applications

A panel application is a small application that resides on a panel. You can navigate to all panel applications and open the panel application popup menu from the keyboard. However, if the panel application does not contain controls that you can give focus to, you cannot navigate the controls in the panel application. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate panel applications.

2.3.5.1. Giving Focus to Windows

Before you can use or modify a window, you must give focus to the window. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to give focus to a window:

2.3.5.2. Controlling Windows

When a window has focus, you can perform various actions on the window. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to control the window that has focus:

2.3.5.3. Moving Windows

When a window has focus, you can move the window around the screen. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to move a window:

2.3.5.4. Resizing Windows

When a window has focus, you can increase or decrease the size of the window. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to resize the window that has focus:

2.3.5.5. Navigating Paned Windows

A paned window is a window that is split into two or more panes. Help Browser is an example of an application that uses paned windows.

The following table describes the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate paned/split windows:

When the resize handle has focus, you can use the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in the following table to modify the paned window:

2.3.6.1. Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Applications

Since there are so many applications that you can use in the GNOME Desktop, this manual does not describe all the custom keyboard shortcuts that you can use with each individual application. However, the basic keyboard shortcuts are common to many applications.

Access keys are another way to quickly navigate applications with the keyboard. An access key is identified by an underlined letter on a menu or control. In some cases, you must press Alt in combination with the access key to perform an action.

The following table lists the essential keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate applications:

2.3.6.2. Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Dialogs

The following table lists the essential keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate dialogs:

2.3.7.1. Navigating Folders

The following table describes the keyboard shortcuts that enable you to navigate folders in the file manager:

2.3.7.2. Navigating Browser Window Components

When operating in Browser mode, the file manager window contains several components, with keyboard shortcuts defined to navigate each component:

2.3.9.1. Navigating Menus

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate menus:

2.3.9.2. Navigating Buttons

A button is a control that you use to start an action. Most buttons are rectangular and contain a text label.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate buttons:

2.3.9.3. Navigating Radio Buttons

A radio button is a control that you use to select one of several mutually-exclusive options.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a set of radio buttons:

2.3.9.4. Navigating Check Boxes

A check box is a control that you use to select or deselect an option.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a check box:

2.3.9.5. Navigating Text Boxes

Text boxes are controls in which you type text.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a single line text box:

In addition to the keyboard shortcuts listed in the previous table, use the keyboard shortcuts in the following table to navigate multi-line text boxes:

2.3.9.6. Navigating Spin Boxes

A spin box is a control that allows you to type a numeric value or select a value from a list of all possible values.

The keyboard shortcuts that you use to navigate the text box area of a spin box are listed in Section 2.3.9.5. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate the up and down arrows in the spin box:

2.3.9.7. Navigating Drop-Down Lists

A drop-down list is a control that you use to select one of several available items. The drop-down list contains a button that you use to display the available items.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a drop-down list:

2.3.9.8. Navigating Drop-Down Combination Boxes

A drop-down combination box is a text box with a drop-down list attached.

When the text box has focus, use the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in Section 2.3.9.5 to navigate the text box area. When the text box has focus, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts in the following table to navigate the drop-down list area:

When the drop-down list has focus, you can use the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in the following table to navigate the drop-down list:

2.3.9.9. Navigating Sliders

A slider is a control that you use to set a value in a continuous range of values.

The following table describes the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a slider:

2.3.9.10. Navigating Tabbed Sections

Windows and dialogs are sometimes divided into logical sections that are displayed one section at a time on the window or dialog. The overall control is referred to as a notebook or tabbed panel. The divisions are called panels, pages, or tabs, and are sometimes collectively referred to as a tabstrip or notebook header. Each individual tab is identified by a text label.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate the tabbed sections of a window or dialog when a tabstrip has focus:

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a window or dialog when a control within a section has focus:

2.3.9.11. Navigating Lists

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate multi-column lists when a column header has focus:

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate lists when the list area has focus:

2.3.9.12. Navigating Trees

A tree is a user interface control that contains sections that you can expand and collapse. A tree usually represents a hierarchical structure.

To navigate trees, you can use the same keyboard shortcuts that are listed in Section 2.3.9.11. In addition, the following table lists the keyboard shortcuts you can use for the tree items:

2.3.10.1. Assigning and Clearing Keyboard Shortcuts

To assign a keyboard shortcut, perform the following steps:

1. Click on the action for which you want to customize the keyboard shortcut. The row is highlighted and the text "Type a new accelerator, or press Backspace to clear" is displayed in the Shortcut column.

2. Press the keys that you want to associate with the action. The new keyboard shortcut is displayed in the Shortcut column.

To disable a keyboard shortcut, perform the following steps:

1. Click on the action for which you want to disable the keyboard shortcut. The row is highlighted and the text "Type a new accelerator, or press Backspace to clear" is displayed in the Shortcut column.

2. Press the backspace. The keyboard shortcut is disabled.

3.1.1.1. What is Orca?

Orca is a flexible, extensible, and powerful assistive technology for people with visual impairments. Using various combinations of speech synthesis, braille and magnification, Orca helps provide access to applications and toolkits that support the AT-SPI (e.g., the GNOME Desktop). Orca is also free open source software.

3.1.1.2. Why the name Orca?

One of the first DOS screen readers was Flipper, made by Omnichron Corporation in Berkeley, CA. It was named Flipper in part because the blind wife of the programmer envisioned computers as being programmed by flipping switches (an accurate image of a bygone era). Then came another DOS screen reader, this one from Henter-Joyce in Florida - "Jobs Access With Speech" (or JAWS). And so on....

Although no obvious connection exists between blindness and creatures from the sea, there is certainly a naming tradition for screen-reader software. Hence Orca, which is a lot tougher-sounding than Nemo, Ariel, Willy, or Mr. Limpet.

3.1.1.3. What's the schedule?

Orca is part of the GNOME platform and Orca's releases are coupled with the releases of the GNOME platform.

3.1.1.4. How do I request a new feature?

Bugs and feature/enhancement requests (RFEs) should be reported to the GNOME Bug Tracking System . Patches are always welcome, and instructions for creating patches can be found in the GNOME Introduction to Subversion (SVN) .

3.1.1.5. Where is the discussion list?

You can get in touch with developers and other users by sending an e-mail to the Orca mailing list ( Archives).

3.1.1.6. Is braille supported?

Yes! Braille is supported via BrlTTY and it is tightly integrated with Orca. BrlTTY offers support for nearly every refreshable braille display known to man. Refer to the braille page for more information.

3.1.1.7. Are Grade 2 braille contractions supported?

Yes, Orca fully supports contracted braille output.

3.1.1.8. What voices are available?

Orca provides interfaces to both gnome-speech and emacspeak speech services. As such, the available voices for Orca are only restricted by the speech engines supported by the available speech services. For free speech engines, you typically have a choice of the eSpeak, Festival, and FreeTTS speech engines. For commercial engines, you have a choice of additional engines such as Fonix DECtalk, Loquendo, Eloquence, Cepstral and IBMTTS, with others on the way. Periodically check the gnome-speech package for more progress in this area.

3.1.1.9. What languages are supported?

The GNOME translation teams are composed of many passionate volunteers from around the world. These teams do a great job and keep an up-to-date status report. See the Orca translation status page for the large number of languages into which Orca has been translated.

Note: support for a language also depends on the speech synthesis engine also supporting the same language.

3.1.1.10. How well does magnification work?

Orca currently uses the gnome-mag magnification service. gnome-mag has incorporated support for smoother full-screen magnification, which relies upon newer extensions in the X Window System server. These extensions do not always function well on all platforms, so smooth full-screen magnification may not always work.

3.1.1.11. How is web access coming along?

Orca targets the Firefox web browser (version 3) for providing accessible web browsing. Both the Orca and Firefox teams are fully dedicated in this cooperative effort.

3.1.3.1. Initial Setup

When you run Orca for the first time, it will automatically enter setup mode. If you want to run setup at some later point, you can pass the --setup option to Orca the next time you run it. Furthermore, while Orca is running, you can press Insert-Space to bring up the Orca setup window. Finally, Orca provides a text setup utility that you can start by passing the --text-setup option to Orca. All of these options will create a ~/.orca/user-settings.py file that holds your preferences and will also enable the accessibility infrastructure. You need to log out and log back in for the new settings to take effect.

3.1.3.2. How do I run Orca?

Run Orca by typing orca in a terminal session window. You can do so from a virtual console window if you do not yet have access to the GUI. With the GUI installed you can also press Alt-F2 or Meta-R to bring up the Run dialog and then enter orca as the command (followed by any optional parameters). Orca will automatically enter text setup mode if you run it from a virtual console window or your GUI environment is not yet set up for accessibility.

3.1.3.3. Quitting Orca

To quit Orca, press Insert-Q. A confirmation dialog will appear. Select Yes to quit. If the system seems unresponsive, you can try a few things:

• Run orca --quit from a terminal window, such as a virtual console; press Ctrl-Alt-F1 (on most Linux platforms) to get to a virtual console, enter your commands, and then use Alt-F7 to get back to the desktop. This will kill the Orca process and reclaim system resources. You can then rerun Orca using the previously outlined methods.

  Press Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to end your login session and get back to the graphical login prompt (not implemented in all Linux distributions).

3.1.4.1. How do I define my own keybindings?

You can redefine your key bindings for Orca in two main ways. The first way is to choose between the Desktop and Laptop layouts, which can be selected on the General page of the Orca configuration dialog (press Insert-Space to bring up Orca Preferences). For more refined control, you can set individual key bindings on the Key Bindings page of the Orca configuration dialog.

3.1.4.2. Use a keyboard command to make Orca speak or braille-output the current date and time

Place the following lines in ~/.orca/orca-customizations.py. If this file doesn't exist yet, go ahead and create it.

import orca.input_event
import orca.keybindings
import orca.orca
import orca.speech
import orca.braille
import re


myKeyBindings = orca.keybindings.KeyBindings()


def sayTime(script, inputEvent=None):
  import time
  message = time.strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S", time.localtime())
  orca.speech.speak(message)
  orca.braille.displayMessage(message)
  return True


sayTimeHandler = orca.input_event.InputEventHandler(
  sayTime,
  "Presents the time.")


myKeyBindings.add(orca.keybindings.KeyBinding(
  "d",
  1 << orca.settings.MODIFIER_ORCA,
  1 << orca.settings.MODIFIER_ORCA,
  sayTimeHandler))


orca.settings.keyBindingsMap["default"] = myKeyBindings

Note that in this case Insert-D will be used to report current information about the time and date.

3.1.4.3. How do I set up my own custom scripts?

Create an empty file named ~/.orca/orca-scripts/__init__.py and place your custom scripts in ~/.orca/orca-scripts , Orca will pick up any scripts from there before looking in the installed area.

3.1.4.4. Orca Configuration

The Orca configuration dialog allows you to customize the behavior and features of Orca, such as speech, braille, and magnification. For example, you can select which speech synthesis engine you want to use, whether braille is enabled or not, and which magnification preferences you want. You can select between Laptop/Desktop keyboard layouts and you can also examine and modify the existing keyboard layout with granular control. To bring up the Orca configuration dialog, press <ORCA MODIFIER>-Space, where <ORCA MODIFIER> is Insert when you use the Desktop key bindings, and Caps Lock when you use the Laptop key bindings.

The Orca configuration dialog is a multi-tab container for several pages, each of which is described in the following sections.

---

3.1.4.4.5. Disable gksu keyboard grab

When running system administration commands from the launch menu, many distributions use an application known as gksu to authorize the user to run these commands (gksu is the dialog that asks you for your password). When it runs, gksu enables what is known as a "keyboard grab," which is a feature to prevent keyboard actions from going to any other application on the desktop, including Orca. The result of a keyboard grab is that Orca will not receive any keyboard events, preventing Orca from functioning normally.

By selecting the Disable gksu Keyboard Grab button, you will turn off the keyboard grab behavior, allowing Orca to function normally with system administration applications.

The keyboard grab is a security attempt by gksu to prevent malicious applications from "sniffing" the keyboard and obtaining your password. Please be advised that disabling gksu's keyboard grab feature can expose you to such nefarious behavior. If you do not feel comfortable with this, you can always use the root account for system administration purposes. To do so, you need to enable the root account for login, and then log out and back in again as root whenever you want to perform a system administration command.

3.1.4.5. Speech Page

The speech page allows you to customize how Orca uses speech synthesis.

3.1.4.6. Braille Page

The braille page allows you to customize various aspects of braille output.

3.1.4.7. Key Echo Page

The Key Echo page allows you to specify the behavior of Orca when pressing keys on the page and whether words are spoken as you complete them.

3.1.4.8. Magnifier Page

The magnifier page allows you to enable/disable magnification and specify how magnification is performed.

3.1.4.9. Key Bindings Page

The key bindings page allows you to examine and modify the key bindings for Orca.

3.1.4.10. Text Attributes Page

Orca will speak known text attribute information about an object when you press Insert-F (Caps Lock-F for Laptop systems).

Because the number of text attributes is large, and not everyone cares about every attribute, the "Text Attributes" tab of the Orca configuration dialog allows you to customize which text attributes will be presented.

On this tab is a text attribute list, where each row consists of three columns:

1. A checkbox which the user can set to indicate whether this text attribute should be spoken or not.

2. The name of the text attribute.

3. An editable "Spoken unless" string value. By default, not all text attributes will have this set. If present, what it means (assuming the user wants this text attribute spoken) is that the value of the attribute will only be spoken if it's a different value than this value.

For example, by default the "underline" text attribute has a value of "none". If the user has this attribute checked and the user presses Insert-F and the text in question is not underlined, then this attribute is not spoken. If you always want this attribute to be spoken regardless of whether the text is underlined, then the attribute should be checked and the "Spoken unless" value cleared.

There is also a Reset button (Alt-R) that will set the list values back to their initial state when the dialog was first displayed.

When you initially display the text attribute pane, all your checked attributes are put at the top of the list. They are given in the order that they will be spoken and output to braille.

If you decide to check others or wish to adjust the order, there are four buttons to help you do this:

• Move to Top ( Alt-T) - moves the selected attribute to the top of the list.

• Move Up One ( Alt-U) - moves the selected attribute up one row.

• Move Down One ( Alt-D) - moves the selected attribute down one row.

• Move to Bottom ( Alt-B) - moves the selected attribute to the bottom of the list.

Text attributes can also be set on an individual application basis. The text attribute pane is also part of the application specific settings dialog that is started when you give a particular application focus and press Insert-Ctrl-Space.

3.2.2.1. Installation

If you get Adobe Acrobat Reader directly from the Adobe site, you may find that the software will not launch. If launched from the Applications menu, it may appear that nothing has happened, or if launched from a terminal window you may receive a long series of syntax error messages. Should this occur, you will need to edit your /usr/bin/acroread file as described in this Ubuntu forum thread.

If you instead choose to install Acrobat Reader from your distribution's packages, be sure to install both acroread and acroread-plugins. Without the plugins package, you will not have the access to the "Reading" category in the Edit-->Preferences dialog.

Note: If you use Ubuntu and cannot locate the acroread package, you will likely need to edit your /etc/apt/sources.list to include the 'multiverse' repository. Then run apt-get update. Having done so, you should then be able to install both acroread and acroread-plugins.

3.2.2.2. Enabling Accessibility and Caret Navigation

Once you've installed Reader, you need to enable accessibility:

1. In the "Accessibility" tab of the Edit-->Preferences dialog, make sure Always display the keyboard selection cursor (Alt-D) is checked.

2. In the "Reading" tab of the Edit-->Preferences dialog, make sure Enable Document Accessibility ((Alt-E) is checked.

3.2.2.3. Working with Untagged Documents

When you open an untagged document, you will be presented with a dialog box asking you to specify the reading order and the reading mode options. The default reading order is Infer reading order from document . This setting works well for most documents.

The default reading mode will vary depending on the length of the document; for short documents, the default is Read the entire document; for long documents the default is Read currently visible pages only. Orca tends to work better when Read the entire document is selected.

If you find that a document seems to be missing parts of the text, try changing the reading options. To do so, get into the Document menu and select Change Accessibility Reading Options... or use the shortcut Ctrl-Shift-5.

3.2.2.4. Page Layout

The best page layout for reading a document with Orca is Single Page. When Continuous is chosen, moving focus to text as the page is scrolling can cause that text not to be read. You can change the page layout to Single Page by getting into the View menu and selecting the Page Layout submenu.

3.2.2.5. Navigating Tables

As far as we know there isn't currently a whole lot of keyboard support for tables in Acrobat Reader. We hope Adobe will remedy this soon.

Basically, there are the arrow keys. Their behavior is to move you first within the cell with focus, then to the next cell with data in it. Note that currently, Up and Down Arrow do not seem to move you vertically among cells - at least that has been the experience with the tables we have tried. Instead, Up and Down seem to move you horizontally until you run out of cells on the current row.

3.6.2.1. Introduction to Themes

A theme is a group of coordinated settings that specifies how a desktop component or a group of desktop components appears. You can use themes to modify and control the appearance of the desktop in a consistent manner. When you apply a theme, the system modifies many desktop components simultaneously to achieve the desired effect. For example, if you apply a theme that increases the font size across the desktop, the theme also modifies the size of panels and icons on the desktop for optimum compatibility with the font size. Some themes have suggested font settings that may optionally be auto-set; in addition, most colors within a theme can be customized.

A theme contains settings that affect different parts of the desktop:

3.6.2.2. Choosing Themes

To choose a theme, perform the following steps:

1. Choose System->Preferences->Appearance . The themes are listed under the Theme tab.

2. Click on a theme in the list box to choose a new theme. The system automatically applies the theme to the desktop, and may also prompt whether to apply a suggested font for the theme.

   There are several themes available that suit different accessibility needs, as described in the following table:

   Table 3-2. Themes Designed for Accessibility Requirements

   Theme Name	Description
   High Contrast	Provides dark text on a light background using high-contrast colors.
   High Contrast Inverse	Provides light text on a dark background using high-contrast colors.
   Large Print	This theme suggests an increased font size of 18pt. The background and foreground colors are the same as those specified by the Default desktop theme. To apply the suggested font, click on the Apply Font button.
   High Contrast Large Print	This theme suggests an increased font size of 18pt using dark text on a light background. To apply the suggested font, click on the Apply Font button.
   High Contrast Large Print Inverse	This theme suggests an increased font size of 18pt using light text on a dark background. To apply the suggested font, click on the Apply Font button.

In some GNOME distributions there are also prebuilt low-contrast/low-contrast-large-print themes to complement the high-contrast theme set.

To view the controls, window frame, and icon settings that are associated with a theme, select a theme in the Appearance preference tool, then click on the Theme tab. The Customize option contains a tabbed section for each setting category. Each tabbed section lists the options that are available and the current setting for the theme is highlighted.

3.6.2.3. Modifying the Controls Setting for a Theme

To modify the controls setting that is associated with a theme, perform the following steps:

1. Within the Theme tab, select the theme that you want to modify.

2. Click on the Customize button. The Customize Theme dialog is displayed.

3. Click on the Controls tab to display the controls options that are available.

4. Select the controls option that you want to associate with the current theme from the list box, then click Close. The following table lists the controls options that are suitable for accessibility needs:

3.6.2.4. Modifying the Window Border Setting for a Theme

To modify the window border setting that is associated with a theme, perform the following steps:

1. In the Appearance preference tool, choose the Theme tab and the theme you want to modify.

2. Click on the Customize button. The Customize Theme dialog is displayed.

3. Click on the Window Border tab to display the window frame options that are available.

4. Select the window frame option that you want to associate with the current theme from the list box, then click Close. The Atlanta option is designed for accessibility.

3.6.2.5. Modifying the Icon Setting for a Theme

To modify the icon setting that is associated with a theme, perform the following steps:

1. In the Appearance preference tool, choose the Theme tab and select the theme that you want to modify.

2. Click on the Customize button. The Customize Theme dialog is displayed.

3. Click on the Icons tab to display the icon options that are available.

4. Select the icon option that you want to associate with the theme from the list box, then click Close. The following table lists the icon options that are suitable for accessibility needs:

3.6.2.6. Creating Your Own Themes

For information about how to create your own themes, see the System Administration Guide.

3.6.3.1. Customizing the Desktop Background

The themes do not affect the desktop background. To set the desktop background, choose System->Preferences->Appearance and select a background from the Background tab. If no background is chosen, the first entry listed here may be used.

3.6.3.2. Customizing Desktop Background Objects

The size of the icons that are displayed on the desktop background is controlled by the File Management preference tool. To change the size of the icons, perform the following steps:

1. From the File Manager window, choose the Edit->Preferences menu item.

2. Select the Views tabbed section.

3. In the Icon View Defaults group, select the zoom level that you require in the Default Zoom Level drop-down list.

3.6.3.3. Customizing Fonts

This section describes how to customize the font settings for the desktop and frequently-used applications.

If you have difficulty with the default font type and font size that is used on the desktop and desktop background, you can customize the font settings to suit your needs.

You can specify individual font settings for the following desktop components and applications:

• Entire desktop (excluding the desktop background)

• Desktop background only

• Terminal

• Text Editor

• Help

• Web Browser

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3.6.3.3.1. Customizing Desktop Fonts

The Appearance preference tool allows you to specify the default fonts for the desktop.

To start the Appearance preference tool, choose System->Preferences->Appearance. The Fonts tab contains the following options:

Application Font

Click on this button to select a default font to use for the text that is displayed on the desktop, including the text displayed on the windows and dialogs associated with GNOME-compliant applications and panel applications.

If you use a predefined theme and you click on the Apply Font button, the font that is associated with the theme overrides the font from the Appearance preference tool.

Document Font

Click on this button to select a font to use for displaying documents.

Desktop Font

Click on this button to select a font to use for the text that is displayed on the desktop background only.

Window Title Font

Click on this button to select a font to use for the text that is displayed in the titlebar area of windows.

Fixed Width Font

Click on this button to select a font to use for editing documents.

Font Rendering

To specify how to render fonts on the desktop, select one of the following options:

• Monochrome

• Best Shapes

• Best Contrast

• Subpixel Smoothing

If you use large fonts, you may need to change the size of panes in some applications, such as the file manager and Help browser.

For more information about the Appearance preference tool and fonts, see the User Guide.

3.6.4.1. Achieving a High- or Low-Contrast Desktop

To achieve a high- or low-contrast desktop, perform the following steps:

1. Use the Appearance preference tool to select the high-contrast or low-contrast desktop theme that you require from the Theme tab.

2. Use the Background tab to customize your desktop background as follows:

   • Set the Desktop Wallpaper to No Wallpaper.

   • Set the Desktop Colors to Solid Color.

   • Select a background color that suits your needs.

3. In the Terminal application, ensure that the Use colors from system theme option is selected in the Colors tabbed section of the Editing Profile dialog.

4. In the gedit (Text Editor) application, ensure that the Use default theme colors option is selected in the Fonts & Colors tabbed section of the Preferences dialog.

3.6.4.2. Achieving a Large Print Desktop

To achieve a large-print desktop, perform the following steps:

1. Use the Appearance preference tool to select the Large Print theme.

2. Click on the Apply Font button to increase the size of the font that is used on the desktop and on window frames.

3. Use the Desktop Font option in the Font tab to increase the font that is displayed on desktop background objects.

4. Increase the font size that is used to display the contents of the Terminal application window.

5. If the Use default theme font option is selected in the gedit (Text Editor) Preferences dialog, gedit uses the font size that is specified in the large-print theme that you selected. However, if the Use default theme font option is not selected, increase the font size that is used to display the contents of the gedit text editor window. See the gedit manual for more information.

6. If you use applications that use panes, such as the file manager and help browser, you may need to change the size of panes to accommodate the large print. See the online help for the appropriate application for more information.

4.3.1.1. Configuring Mouse Behavior

The following sections describe how to modify the behavior of the mouse to suit your needs.

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4.3.1.1.3. Changing Mouse Pointer Size

To change the size of the mouse pointer that is displayed on the desktop, perform the following steps:

1. Click on the Pointers tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog.

2. This will display a list of pointer themes and sizes available.

3. By default, GNOME does not include mouse pointer themes. Information about installing and using pointer themes can be found in the User Guide.

On some platforms you must log out and log in again for this setting to take effect.

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4.3.1.1.4. Locating the Mouse Pointer

If you have difficulty locating the mouse pointer on the screen, you can enable an option to highlight the pointer when you press the Control key. To enable this option, click on the Pointers tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog, then select the Highlight the pointer when you press Ctrl option. When you press Control, the system displays an animation around the pointer to highlight the pointer.

On some platforms, you must log out and log in again before this setting takes effect.

4.3.1.2. Configuring the Cursor

The following section describes how to modify the display characteristics of the cursor.

4.3.1.3. Keyboard Mouse Emulation

If you have difficulty using a mouse, you can use the keyboard to emulate the mouse functions. See Section 4.3.2 of this guide for more information.

4.3.4.1. Simulated Secondary Click

A secondary or right-click can be issued by using the primary button and keeping it held down for a specified delay.

4.3.4.2. Dwell Click

A click can be issued by having the mouse pointer dwell in a given spot for a specified delay. In this mode, the click-type is determined by the ClickType window, Dwell Click applet, or by the direction in which the user moves the mouse after the dwell time has elapsed. The click-type can be single, double, drag or right.

The Dwell Click panel applet can be installed by right-clicking the GNOME Desktop menu bar / system panel, selecting Add to Panel, choosing Dwell Click and clicking the Add button.

4.3.4.3. Pointer Capture

The mouse pointer can be locked into an area of the screen so the pointing device is free for other tasks. For example, this capability allows a powerchair user to control both the powerchair and the mouse pointer with a single powerchair joystick.

The Pointer Capture panel applet creates such an area on the panel, into which the user can lock the pointer until released in a determined way.

The Pointer Capture panel applet can be installed by right-clicking the GNOME Desktop menu bar / system panel, selecting Add to Panel, choosing Pointer Capture and clicking the Add button.

Preferences may be set by choosing Preferences in the context menu of the Pointer Capture applet:

In the Capture Pointer section, the user can specify under what circumstances the pointer gets captured when it moves into the capture area. For example, if the Ctrl modifier key is checked, the pointer gets captured when it is over the capture area and the user presses the Ctrl modifier key. If no modifier is checked and the mouse button is set to 0, the pointer only has to move into the capture area to get locked. It is also possible to specify a combination of modifiers and mouse button.

In the Release Pointer section, the user can specify what modifier or mouse button releases the pointer. It is also possible to specify a combination of modifiers and mouse button.

In the Size of Capture Area section, the user can specify the width of the capture area on the GNOME panel.