Re: [orca-list] ORKA help

[Rastislav Kish <rastislav kish protonmail com>]

Hello Amy,

sure, why not.


First of all, we should clarify, that the screenreader is called Orca
(with the pre-last letter being c, like in Charlie).

Heh, don't worry, this is not a grammar lesson, just a clarification
from my side, since when it comes to names of software and particularly
commands, they need to be accurate, otherwise the system won't
understand them.


The second thing to consider is, what flavour and version of Ubuntu
would you like to use?


As for flavours, I personally recommend Ubuntu Mate. Mate is the most
accessible environment I'm aware of so far, and it's nicely integrated
in UM, so you can get things setup just "out of the box".


As for version, I recommend the latest interim release - 21.10.

I've installed it recently into a virtual machine and I was very nicely
surprised, many problems of the previous versions got resolved like the
inaccessible system installer on the installation media boot or bumping
orca version to 40.0, resolving the terminal inaccessibility.


When you boot up the installation iso, press Alt+Super (the Windows
key)+S to start orca (it should say "Screenreader on").

Then, press Insert+Space to show the Orca settings and configure the
screenreader. I'm never sure here whether the changes will apply after
installation (sometimes they did not, sometimes they did).

Thus I usually configure just very basic stuff - switch keyboard layout
to laptop, synthesiser language to my native-one, turn off key echo and
turn on echo by words.


You can of course set it up the way you like. Since you're new to Orca,
I recommend checking out the Keyboard shortcuts tab in the settings, you
can learn all used keyboard commands there and also set up your own.


I recommend paying special attention to the flat review commands. FR is
very useful on Linux, whether you're going to reat terminal output or be
clicking on elements unwilling to get activated.


When you're done playing with configuration, press Ok and continue
installation using the instructions on the screen.


If you experience any problems, feel free to ask. There are quite a few
very experienced users on this list, as well as other lists focused on
Linux and visual impairment in general such as the Blinux mailing list.


Good luck, and most importantly, have fun!


Best regards


Rastislav


Dňa 16. 1. 2022 o 22:07 Amy Bishop via orca-list napísal(a):
> Hello everyone,
>
> I will be taking a class in Linux and Unix. I am going to use the
> latest Ubuntu with VMware and Orka. I was wondering if someone could
> help get me started with learning ORKA? I have tried to learn it
> myself, but I have not figured out much. Thank you all for the help!
> Amy