Universal access

The GNOME desktop includes assistive technologies to support users with various impairments and special needs, and to interact with common assistive devices. Many accessibility features can be accessed from the accessibility menu in the top bar.

Find the universal access menu — The universal access menu is the icon on the top bar that looks like a person.

Visual impairments

Blindness

Read screen aloud — Use the Orca screen reader to speak the user interface.
Read screen in Braille — Use the Orca screen reader with a refreshable Braille display.

Low vision

Adjust the contrast — Make windows and buttons on the screen more (or less) vivid, so they're easier to see.
Change text size on the screen — Use larger fonts to make text easier to read.
Magnify the screen area — Zoom in on your screen so it's easier to see things.
Make the keyboard cursor blink — Make the insertion point blink and control how quickly it blinks.
Quickly locate the pointer — Pressing Ctrl can find your mouse pointer.

Hearing impairments

Flash the screen for alert sounds — Enable visual alerts to flash the screen or window when an alert sound is played.

Mobility impairments

Mouse movement

Adjust speed of the mouse and touchpad — Change how quickly the pointer moves when you use your mouse or touchpad.
Click and move mouse pointer using the keypad — Enable mouse keys to control the mouse with the keypad.

Clicking and dragging

Adjust the double-click speed — Control how quickly you need to press the mouse button a second time to double-click.
Adjust the mouse drag threshold — Change how far you have to move your mouse pointer to start dragging.
Simulate a right mouse click — Press and hold the left mouse button to right-click.
Simulate clicking by hovering — The Hover Click (Dwell Click) feature allows you to click by holding the mouse still.

Keyboard use

Turn off repeated key presses — Make the keyboard not repeat letters when you hold down a key, or change the delay and speed of repeat keys.
Turn on bounce keys — Ignore quickly-repeated key presses of the same key.
Turn on slow keys — Have a delay between a key being pressed and that letter appearing on the screen.
Turn on sticky keys — Type keyboard shortcuts one key at a time rather than having to hold down all of the keys at once.
Use a screen keyboard — Use an on-screen keyboard to enter text without using a keyboard.