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  • Linux Accessibility

Linux Accessibility Settings

Select another operating system:

Windows
macos
windows
iOS
android

To Open Accessibility Settings

Instructions below are for Ubuntu 21.10, but should work for most versions of Linux based on the gnome desktop.

  1. Open the Applications Menu: Click the Show Applications Button or press Windows + A (on most keyboards.) 
  2. Click the Settings gear icon
  3. Click Accessibility

Pro-Tips:

  • You can add an accessibility icon to the Ubuntu menu bar for easier access to accessibility features.
accessibility settings

Vision

Hearing

Motor

 

Make Text, Icons and the Pointer Bigger

Make Text Bigger

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Seeing
  2. Large Text
  3. Adjust the toggle to on
large text accessibility setting

Tips & Notes


Large Text will increase the size of text found in menus, icons, and certain applications. However, some text may not become bigger, especially text found in applications that use custom toolkits or toolkits from another desktop environment such as KDE. The size of large the text cannot be adjusted from the accessibility settings screen.

 

Make Everything Bigger

  1. Settings > Displays > Built-in Display
  2. Scale
  3. Select from the options available

Pro-tip: turn the Fractional Scaling toggle on to get more options for screen scaling.

display scaling settings

Tips & Notes


Display scaling will increase the size of text no matter the application, however it will increase the size of everything including images, icons and apps as well. Explore the different percentages to find one that works best for you.

Large Mouse Pointer

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Seeing
  2. Cursor Size
  3. Select a preferred size
large cursor settings

Tips & Notes


Changing the color of the mouse pointer in Ubuntu is possible, but requires knowledge of the command line interface.

Adjust Colors and Contrast

Enable Dark Mode

  1. Settings > Appearance> Window Colors
  2. Choose Dark
dark mode settings

Tips & Notes


Dark mode replaces the standard light background & dark text system theme with a dark background light text theme which can make text easier to read for some individuals and may reduce eyestrain.  

Try High Contrast

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Seeing
  2. High Contrast  
  3. Adjust the toggle to on
high contrast settings

Tips & Notes


The selected theme cannot be customized.

Use Night Light

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Display
  2. Select the Night Light tab
  3. Adjust the toggle to on
night light settings

Tips & Notes


Night Light reduces the blue light emitted from the computer screen. Reducing blue light may reduce eye strain when used in dimly lit or dark settings. 

Magnify Apps, Text and Use a Screen Reader

Use Zoom

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Seeing 
  2. Zoom
  3. Adjust the toggle to on
zoom settings

Tips & Notes


Zoom can enlarge the entire screen, or parts of it as needed. Options can be adjusted from the settings menu.

Zoom Apps

On the Web: hold CTRL and press the + key to zoom in.

Tips & Notes


Use this shortcut to quickly increase the size of the text in any web browser.

Use the Built-In Screen Reader

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Screen Reader
  2. Adjust the toggle to on
screen reader settings

Tips & Notes


Orca is a screen reader designed to support individuals who are blind or who have limited vision. 

 

Hearing

Turn on Visual Alerts

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Hearing
  2. Visual Alerts
visual alerts settings

Tips & Notes


The visual alerts feature can be set to flash the active window or the entire screen when an alert sound occurs. This is useful for people who would not be able to hear the alert. 

 

Adaptive Keyboard and Mouse Settings (AccessX)

Activate Sticky Keys

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Typing
  2. Adjust the Sticky Keys toggle
sticky keys settings

Tips & Notes


Sticky keys is designed to enable one handed activation of multi-key combinations such as CTRL+ P (print) or Alt + Tab (switch windows). The feature holds down each system key (CTRL, ALT, Shift or Windows) until an alpha-numeric key is pressed. 

Slow Keys

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Typing
  2. Adjust the Slow Keys toggle
slow keys settings

Tips & Notes


Slow Keys can be used to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes by increasing the time required between key press and activation which may be useful for people who have difficulty targeting keys or who have a tremor in their hands.

Bounce Keys

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Typing
  2. Adjust the Bounce Keys toggle
bounce keys settings

Tips & Notes


Bounce Keys can be used to prevent accidental repeated keystrokes by increasing the time required between accepting key presses. 

Mouse Keys

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Pointing & Clicking
  2. Adjust the Mouse Keys toggle
mouse keys settings

Tips & Notes


Mouse Keys enables use of the keyboard to control the mouse pointer.   

Click Assist

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Pointing & Clicking
  2. Click Assist
  3. Adjust the Hover Click toggle
click assist settings

Tips & Notes


Click assist provides two features that makes using the mouse easier for someone who has difficulty clicking the standard mouse buttons. 

  • Simulated Secondary Click: enables a double click gesture when the primary mouse button is held down for a set period of time.
  • Hove Click: sends a mouse click when the pointer stops moving for a set period of time.

Center for Inclusive Design and Engineering (CIDE)

CU Denver

The Hub, Bioengineering

1224 5th Street

Suite 130

Denver, CO 80204


303-315-1280

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