Hello,
I’m blind user and would try your operating system that is very interesting.
Otherwise, it hasn’t preinstalled Orca screen reader for help me to use it.
I tried to install it myself in blind mode but it can’t be install probably for a missing dependence.
Please consider to install Orca and its dependences in next releases for allows us to use it, now it supports well KDE Plasma more than previous versions.
Thanks a lot for your job
Gigi
Hello Gigi,
while I am not able to directly help you, I wanted to jump in and say that I am very glad to see visually impaired users looking into using Linux. I did some research on this topic a while back because I wondered why none ever mentioned it. When I compiled my first kernel in '98, there was already support for Braille displays and other stuff included (well, soundcards were a major issue back then). I even installed Accessible Coconut (Accessible Coconut | Zendalona) with my eyes closed (mostly).
Sadly, I found that many of those “assistants” around simply will only look into Mac and Windows and suggest this to their users. Watched one video where it was mentioned that Linux is “too nerdy” to be even considered for them. But none explained, why it is too nerdy or what wasn’t working.
I know that Linux is sure not the best solution out there at the moment. I wish you luck on your journey and I am sure, the more feedback comes from visually impaired users, the better the support will become.
Hi!
Unfortunately, the issue is often ignored, and people tend to recommend well-established solutions, forgetting that even on those platforms, there were once tester users before they became truly usable.
My first experience with Linux was in 2003, when a friend gave me a Knoppix CD — one of the first live distros released. Unfortunately, back then there was no minimal support for graphical environments, and although I had a Braille display, I was never able to get it to work.
The real turning point came with the arrival of Ubuntu, which starting from version 6.06 included Orca — a screen reader developed by the GNOME community, and still the only real solution for the Linux desktop (for the console, there are Speakup with its frontend Espeakup, and Fenrir, in addition to Brltty for Braille support).
Over the years, I’ve witnessed the progress of both Linux and Orca, often installing various distros on my PCs, even in dual boot with Windows. I’d say that today the level of usability has become acceptable — at least for the way I use it.
There’s a great community of users and developers around Orca. I’m not sure how large it is, but it definitely has a lot of people willing to contribute and get involved.
The desktop environment that works best with Orca is MATE, mainly because it’s a fork of GNOME 2 — the environment Orca was originally created for 20 years ago.
Other more or less usable desktops include GNOME, KDE (in recent releases, though with issues in Konsole and the settings panel), XFCE (a major issue is that the desktop itself isn’t read), and LXQt starting from version 2.1.
At the moment, I mostly use Arch and Debian, and I’d say the experience is decent. Of course, we’re still far from the levels of Windows and macOS, but it’s usable.
Thanks for your message!
Gigi
P.s. I’m not English, sorry in advance if message contains errors.
Hi,
I had an old VM lying around, where I could play a bit with this. Basically what you need to do it to install orca and espeak-ng (including all dependencies) and you can make your computer talk to you 
Not sure if this can be included into the base image in near future. I suppose, it will require some kind of issue in Github or so. I will try to find out - accessibility features should be always provided, I think.
Edit: issue opened - hope I did it correct 
Well, then we stay tuned! Obviously Orca must be activated by user, not automatically, but who need it can do.
Tanks a lot!
Gigi
Hi,
for now I prepared a respin named Talchyos, it’s simply Cachyos with Orca installed.
If you need it press Alt+Super+S and it’s work immediately.
Here’s the link for download:
Cheers
Gigi