Accessibility in Linux systems [LWN.net]

Accessibility in Linux systems

Posted Oct 10, 2008 12:11 UTC (Fri) by Wummel (subscriber, #7591)
Parent article: Accessibility in Linux systems

There is currently no linux distribution specialized for older people. I ended up installing Debian Linux and changing a lot of stuff to have a simple but usable workspace for my mother:

Autologin (using the script from Knoppix)
Autoshutdown on logout
Large fonts
Locked down options (ie. the user cannot change application or desktop options)
Simplifying the desktop (in this case KDE). The only icons on the desktop are Mail, Browser Openoffice Writer and Freecell :-)
Remote administration with SSH and NX server
... and possibly lots of other small adjustments I forgot in this list

So I'd like to see a distribution targeted at older people. After all, the target audience for such a distribution is growing every year.

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Accessibility in Linux systems

Posted Oct 10, 2008 13:25 UTC (Fri) by Cato (subscriber, #7643) [Link]

Those aren't really optimisations from older people (except for large fonts perhaps) - they would also be suitable for novices who can only deal with a simple setup and won't want to install their own software. I did a similar setup for an elderly relative, using GNOME, which seems harder to customize completely than KDE.