| Documentation / Chapter 4. Assistive Technologies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 3.5. System | 4.2. Mobility Impairments |  | |
| Documentation / Chapter 4. Assistive Technologies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5. System | 4.2. Mobility Impairments | | |
Abstract
The GNOME user interface incorporates many accessibility features and specially designed assistive technologies which contribute greatly to the accessibility of the GNOME desktop.
This chapter describes several assistive technology applications designed to meet the needs of users with physical disabilities such as low vision or impaired motor skills.
A number of technologies can be of assistance to people with different types of disabilities. These are covered in this section.
There are several ways to customize the appearance of the GNOME desktop to suit your specific needs. Themes are the most effective way to change the appearance of the desktop in a consistent manner. You can also customize different components of the desktop to achieve the display settings that you require. You can configure the desktop and applications in addition to using themes or as an alternative to themes. For details, see Chapter 3, Customizing Your Settings.
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 size on the desktop and desktop background, you can customize the font settings to suit your needs.
The tool allows you to specify the default fonts for the desktop. To start the tool, choose ++. The tab contains the following options:
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.
Click on this button to select a font to use for displaying documents.
Click on this button to select a font to use for the text that is displayed on the desktop background only.
Click on this button to select a font to use for the text that is displayed in the title bar area of windows.
Click on this button to select a font to use for editing documents.
To specify how to render fonts on the desktop select either:
,
,
or .
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.
By default, GNOME applications use the default font specified in the tool. Some applications allow this default font to be customized.
To achieve a high-contrast or low-contrast desktop, perform the following steps:
Use the tool to select the high-contrast or low-contrast desktop theme that you require from the tab.
Use the tab to customize your desktop background as follows:
Set the to .
Set the to “Solid Color”.
Select a background color that suits your needs.
Ensure that the option is selected in the tabbed section of the dialog.
In the gedit text editor, ensure that the option is selected in the tabbed section of the dialog.
To achieve a large-print desktop, perform the following steps:
Use the tool to select the theme.
Click on the button to increase the size of the font that is used on the desktop and on window frames.
Use the option to achieve a large-print desktop.
If the is selected in the gedit (Text Editor) dialog, gedit uses the font size that is specified in the large-print theme that you selected.
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.
