-1
New To Win 11 Loving It So Far
(lemm.ee)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
-1 points (47.1% liked)
Windows 11
318 readers
1 users here now
All about Windows 11.
- Installation
- Troubleshooting
- Enhancements
- Security
- Everything else
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Would you mind doing a write up or critique on the state of accessibility in Linux from your experience? I think it’s great you found something that works for you, but it would be good to understand how Linux is deficient so it can hopefully be improved.
I'd love to. There's already a good write up by a blind user. However visually impaired users and those with chronic illnesses have needs that are a little different.
Years ago it looked like an accessible Linux desktop would be a thing. You had distros like Vinux. It was especially patched for the needs of disabled folks. I recall it being Ubuntu based. When I tried it I was very impressed. It had a fully accessible installer amd screen magnification. This was back in the days of Gnome 2.
Unfortunately the MATE desktop has been neglected, and as a result has neglected accessibility. Right now full screen magnification is done in a very hacky way by enabling compiz and using the enhanced desktop zoom plugin. One of the big problems with screen magnification under Linux is that except for it GNOME 42., there is no carrott tracking. I e. The screen magnifier does not track the cursor when one is typing. You have to manually move the mouse to keep your text from going off screen. This is simply ridiculous to put it frankly.
As far as the needs of chronically ill folk, speech recognition is primary. We need reliable speech recognition so that when we're having a bad pain day we can still write. And use our machine. Under Windows I've used Dragon Naturally Speaking. The speech recognition is par none. They're pretty much the standard in the industry. You install the software. and after a short training You are able to pull up MS Word and write with your voice seamlessly. Think of Dragon as the Photoshop of speech recognition.
I totally love LibreOffice. I have installed on my machine now. The problem is it doesn't support the Windows accessibility API. Or at least it didn't back in the XP days. Of course it does support the GNOME accessibility API. I've always had good luck getting Orca to play nice with Libre office under Linux. Orca is a screen reader. However it's designed for totally blind folks.
I use ZoomText under Windows. It's a screen reader specifically designed for the visually impaired. It has a ton of great features. And it also gets the basics right. Is it proprietary well yes. It also cost a pretty penny. I got access to it and Dragon through a non-profit the center for accessible technology.
Sorry for the typos I wrote this on mobile.