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                2.17.92
-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.

Report bugs to orca-list@gnome.org.

TODO: Include Alt+F2

TODO: Include automatic start via the gnome-session-properties dialog

TODO: Include automatic start via the gnome-at-properties dialog

TODO: Include Accessible Login

TODO: Include GNOME System Administration Using Orca

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).

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 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+F1 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.