Hi all,
I've used linux on my desktop in the past with great joy and I would like to start using it again, but I'm running into some accessibility problems. I'm visually impaired, and I need some aids to use a computer. The two things that I absolutely depend on are the ability to invert screen colors (black becomes white and vice versa) and some way to make the mouse cursor more visible.
I currently use Mac OS, which has a builtin option to invert screen colors, and I use a third party application called Pin Point to draw a blue circle around the mouse pointer.
As far as I can tell Gnome 3 does not have a builtin option to invert screen colors, I have solved this in the past by just using Gnome 2 with Compiz, which has a plugin to invert the colors. Also KDE has this feature, so it should be no problem to get this working properly.
However, I cannot find a way to make the cursor more visible. I tried to write a little c program that can draw a circle around the cursor but I can't get it to properly work. On OS X my mouse looks like this [1], the cursor would be inside the blue circle, but is not visible in the screenshot.
Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions to solve this problem so I can use Linux on my desktop once again.
[1]: https://www.dropbox.com/s/65bgyl7wx501szk/Screen%20Shot%202016-05-19%20at%20...
On 05/18/2016 11:41 PM, Tiemo Kieft wrote:
However, I cannot find a way to make the cursor more visible. I tried to write a little c program that can draw a circle around the cursor but I can't get it to properly work. On OS X my mouse looks like this [1], the cursor would be inside the blue circle, but is not visible in the screenshot.
Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions to solve this problem so I can use Linux on my desktop once again.
If you use a DE that works with Compiz, there's an option under Accessibility to Show Mouse. I have it set to have three bands of random, flickering colors rotate around it when active. It's a lot easier than moving the mouse around until you see where it is.
[1]Legacy footnote, not supported.
On Thu, 2016-05-19 at 06:41 +0000, Tiemo Kieft wrote:
The two things that I absolutely depend on are the ability to invert screen colors (black becomes white and vice versa) and some way to make the mouse cursor more visible.
An appearance theme setting, with your preferred colour scheme.
Not sure if you need the gnome-tweak-tool to do what you want.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm familiar with the option you are referring to, but I need something that I can turn on permanently. The Show Mouse plugin in compiz is a bit too dynamic for that (unless they have dramatically changed it.)
On 05/21/2016 02:33 AM, Tiemo Kieft wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm familiar with the option you are referring to, but I need something that I can turn on permanently. The Show Mouse plugin in compiz is a bit too dynamic for that (unless they have dramatically changed it.)
Are you using Gnome? If so, then in Gnome Tweak Tool, under "Keyboard and Mouse", there's an option called "show location of pointer". If you turn that on, then every time you press the control key, the mouse pointer is highlighted by moving circles.
Allegedly, on or about 21 May 2016, Samuel Sieb sent:
in Gnome Tweak Tool, under "Keyboard and Mouse", there's an option called "show location of pointer". If you turn that on, then every time you press the control key, the mouse pointer is highlighted by moving circles.
Even that's not particularly obvious, and my eyesight is quite good, particularly when the mouse is right on the edges of the screen. What's needed is more like full-screen cross that points to the mouse, like a few graphics programs use (so you can actually use those rulers along the edge of a page). Somewhat like the following diagram:
+-this is the screen-----+---------------+ | | | | | | | \ | / | | \ | / | | |/ | +------------------------o---------------| | /|\ | | / | \ | | / | \ | | | | +------------------------+---------------+
It's struck me that with the multi-button mice that you can get, at least one of the buttons ought to call up a find-pointer function. Preferably with a toggle on/off mode, rather than having to hold it in. Again, for the reason I mentioned earlier - being able to use those screen rules along the edges of pages in graphics programs.
On 05/21/2016 11:16 PM, Tim wrote:
Allegedly, on or about 21 May 2016, Samuel Sieb sent:
in Gnome Tweak Tool, under "Keyboard and Mouse", there's an option called "show location of pointer". If you turn that on, then every time you press the control key, the mouse pointer is highlighted by moving circles.
Even that's not particularly obvious, and my eyesight is quite good, particularly when the mouse is right on the edges of the screen. What's needed is more like full-screen cross that points to the mouse, like a few graphics programs use (so you can actually use those rulers along the edge of a page). Somewhat like the following diagram:
+-this is the screen-----+---------------+ | | | | | | | \ | / | | \ | / | | \|/ | +------------------------o---------------| | /|\ | | / | \ | | / | \ | | | | +------------------------+---------------+It's struck me that with the multi-button mice that you can get, at least one of the buttons ought to call up a find-pointer function. Preferably with a toggle on/off mode, rather than having to hold it in. Again, for the reason I mentioned earlier - being able to use those screen rules along the edges of pages in graphics programs.
I think that would be very useful, and if somebody creates such a program, please put it somewhere in rpm form so that other Linux users who are not in Fedora can find and use it!
--doug
Are you using Gnome? If so, then in Gnome Tweak Tool, under "Keyboard and Mouse", there's an option called "show location of pointer". If you turn that on, then every time you press the control key, the mouse pointer is highlighted by moving circles.
Unfortunately that isn't very visible, also I'd prefer something that is permanently visible.
On Mon, 30 May 2016 14:28:32 -0000 "Tiemo Kieft" tiemo@fedoraproject.org wrote:
An appearance theme setting, with your preferred colour scheme.
I tried look for one that is good enough, but I haven't found it yet. The problem in most cases is de text selection cursor, in most themes that is just a tiny vertical bar. -- users mailing list
I vaguely recall that there used to be some sort of add-on that put two light lines on the screen, a vertical one and a horizontal one, that intersected where the cursor was. Maybe you could find that, if it is still around, and it would suit your purposes.
-
Doug -
Joe Zeff -
Samuel Sieb -
stan -
Tiemo Kieft -
Tim