Translations by David Lodge

February 2003

GNOME 2.0 Desktop for the Solaris Operating Environment Accessibility Guide V2.1

January 2003

GNOME 2.0 Desktop for the Solaris Operating Environment Accessibility Guide V2.0

December 2002

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Introduction to Accessibility

Section 508

This chapter introduces you to accessibility in the GNOME Desktop.

All software products should incorporate accessibility features to enable people with disabilities to use the software easily and efficiently. Recent legislation such as Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act heightens awareness of the need to provide accessible software.

The GNOME Desktop is easy to use and incorporates many accessibility features. Every supported application and utility in the GNOME Desktop is designed with accessibility and usability in mind. Users with physical disabilities such as low vision or impaired motor skills can use all of the functionality of the GNOME Desktop thanks to the customization tools that are available. The customization tools enable you to customize the appearance and behavior of the desktop.

The ability to easily customize the GNOME Desktop contributes greatly to the accessibility of the desktop. This guide describes the various customization options that you can use to tailor the desktop to suit your particular needs.

accessible login feature

The GNOME Desktop includes an Accessible Login feature. The Accessible Login feature enables users to:

Log in to the desktop even if the user cannot easily use the screen, mouse, or keyboard in the usual way.

Launch assistive technologies at login time by associating a user action with an assistive technology application. The user can perform the user action from the standard keyboard, or from a keyboard, pointing device, or switch device that is attached to the USB or PS/2 mouse port. These user actions are called gestures.

Change the visual appearance of the login dialog before the user logs in, for example, to use a high contrast theme for better visibility.

To Enable Accessible Login

GDM

Log in as the <literal>root</literal> user.

Open the file <filename>/etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf</filename>.

Search the file for the following line:

#AddGtkModules=false

and replace the line with the following:

AddGtkModules=true

This step enables the GtkModules.

#GtkModulesList=gail:atk-bridge:dwellmouselistener:keymouselistener

and delete the <literal>#</literal> from the start of the line so that the line reads:

GtkModulesList=gail:atk-bridge:dwellmouselistener:keymouselistener

The above lines must be displayed as single lines in the <filename>gdm.conf</filename> file without line breaks. The formatting of this guide may display the lines over two lines.

This step loads all of the GtkModules to enable assistive technologies such as <application>On-Screen Keyboard</application> and <application>Screen Reader and Magnifier</application>. You can edit the line above further to load only the GtkModules that you require to support the user base. For example:

If you need to use the <application>Screen Reader and Magnifier</application>, include <literal>gail</literal> and <literal>atk-bridge</literal>.

If you need to use a pointing device without buttons or switches, include <literal>gail</literal>, <literal>atk-bridge</literal>, and <literal>dwellmouselistener</literal>.

If you use pointing devices with switches, alternative physical keyboards, or switch and button devices, include <literal>keymouselistener</literal>.

<application>On-Screen Keyboard</application> can operate without <literal>gail</literal> and <literal>atk-bridge</literal> but with a reduced feature set.

For optimum accessibility, include <literal>gail</literal> and <literal>atk-bridge</literal>.

Save the <filename>/etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf</filename> file.

If you make any changes to the <filename>/etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf</filename> file after you enable GDM, you can execute the following command to restart GDM and activate the changes:

gdm-restart

Edit the file <filename>/etc/group</filename> and append the following to the <literal>audio</literal> line:

,gdm

This step ensures that speech works with GDM.

Restart your system.

To Start Assistive Technologies at Login

gestures

If you load the <literal>keymouselistener</literal> and <literal>dwellmouselistener</literal> GtkModules in the GDM configuration file, you can assign user actions to launch specific assistive technologies at login time. These user actions are called gestures. The gesture associations are contained in the following GDM configuration files:

/etc/X11/gdm/modules/AccessKeyMouseEvents

/etc/X11/gdm/modules/AccessDwellMouseEvents

If you modify these files, you must restart your system before the changes take effect.

The following sections contain examples of the gestures that you can add to the GDM configuration files.