Configuring and Using Orca

The command to run orca is orca. You can enter this command by pressing Alt+F2 when logged in, waiting for a second or so, then typing orca and pressing return. Orca is designed to present information as you navigate the desktop using the built-in navigation mechanisms of GNOME. These navigation mechanisms are consistent across most desktop applications.

You may sometimes wish to control Orca itself, such as bringing up the Orca Configuration GUI (accessed by pressing Insert+Space when Orca is running) and for using flat review mode to examine a window. Refer to Orca Keyboard Commands (Laptop Layout) for more information on Orca-specific keyboard commands. The Orca Configuration GUI also includes a "Key Bindings" tab that allows you to get a complete list of Orca key bindings.

Running Orca

The command to run orca is orca. You typically run orca with no command line arguments, but you can get a description of the command line arguments by passing --help as a command line argument:

orca --help
GTK Accessibility Module initialized
Usage: orca [OPTION...]

-?, --help                   Show this help message
-v, --version                2.23.2
-s, --setup, --gui-setup     Set up user preferences
-t, --text-setup             Set up user preferences (text version)
-n, --no-setup               Skip set up of user preferences
-u, --user-prefs-dir=dirname Use alternate directory for user preferences
-e, --enable=[speech|braille|braille-monitor|magnifier|main-window] Force use of option
-d, --disable=[speech|braille|braille-monitor|magnifier|main-window] Prevent use of option
-q, --quit                   Quits Orca (if shell script used)

If Orca has not been previously set up by the user, Orca
will automatically launch the preferences set up unless
the -n or --no-setup option is used.

WARNING: suspending Orca, e.g. by pressing Control-Z, from
an AT-SPI enabled shell (such as gnome-terminal), can also
suspend the desktop until Orca is killed.

Report bugs to orca-list@gnome.org.

Running Orca from the GNOME Desktop

Once your GNOME desktop session is running (e.g., you logged in), you can launch Orca by pressing Alt+F2 then type orca and enter.

Once you can read your GNOME desktop, you can set Orca to be launched automatically by going into the System Menu, the Preferences item, Universal Access, Assistive Technology Preferences. In the dialog box, activate Enable assistive technologies, which will enable the Preferred Applications button, click on it. In the second dialog box, select the Accessibility tab, in which you can check that the Orca or Orca with Magnifier visual is selected, and eventually activate Run at start. You can Close the two dialog boxes. The next time you run a gnome session, Orca should automatically get started.

Another way is to go into the System Menu, the Preferences item, Sessions, and in the Startup Programs tab, activate the Autostart the preferred AT item, or Add a new item, choose any name and use orca as command and OK. You can Close the dialog box. The next time you run a gnome session, Orca should automatically get started.

When Orca is running, you can configure preferences for speech, braille, magnification, and other features using the Orca Configuration GUI (accessed by pressing Insert+Space when using the desktop keyboard layout and Caps_Lock+Space when using the laptop keyboard layout).

Orca is designed to present information as you navigate the desktop using the built-in navigation mechanisms of GNOME. These navigation mechanisms are consistent across most desktop applications. Sometimes, however, you may need to escape to 'flat review' mode to explore the two-dimensional layout of text in a window. You may also wish to learn more about text attributes and access other Orca-specific features. These are all done using the keyboard. Refer to Orca Desktop Keyboard Commands (Laptop Layout) for more information on Orca-specific keyboard commands. The Orca Configuration GUI also includes a "Key Bindings" tab that allows you to get a complete list of Orca key bindings.

When Orca is running, you can also press Insert+h to enter "learn mode." In learn mode, you can press any key on the keyboard or button on the braille display. Orca will intercept the keystroke or button press and tell you what action would have been taken. To exit learn mode, press the Escape key.

Quitting Orca

To quit orca, press Insert+q. A confirmation dialog will appear. Select "yes" to quit. If the system seems unresponsive, you can do a couple things:

• Run orca --quit from a terminal window, such as a virtual console (press Ctrl+Alt+F1 on most Linux platforms to get to a virtual console and then Alt+F7 to get back to the desktop). This will kill orca and clean up after it. You can then rerun orca using the orca command.

• Press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to kill your login session and get back to the graphical login prompt.

System Administration

See GNOME System Administration Using Orca.

Accessible Login

See Accessible Login.

Debugging

See Debugging.