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The Ubuntu Desktop team has updated the Ubuntu Desktop Installer with various accessibility features for the upcoming Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) operating system series.
Among the many new features in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, users will also be able to more easily enable various accessibility features before installing the operating system on their personal computers right from the Desktop Installer written in Flutter introduced with the Ubuntu 23.04 release.
This is not a new feature in Ubuntu itself as previous releases offered an accessibility menu that users could access from the top bar. In fact, the accessibility menu is a feature of the GNOME desktop environment and can be enabled or disabled from Settings > Accessibility.
The accessibility menu is not gone in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS “Noble Numbat”. It’s only disabled by default until you enable at least one of the accessibility options, which means that you’ll still be able to enable or disable the accessibility features even after you start the installation or after the installation.
The Ubuntu Desktop team introduced a new screen in the Ubuntu Desktop Installer, right after the first one which lets you choose the system language, to make it easier for Ubuntu users to change various accessibility options like enabling high contrast, large text, screen reader, zooming, or reduced animation.
At the moment of writing, the Ubuntu Desktop Installer in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS doesn’t appear to be complete as the Typing, Pointing and Clicking, and Zoom sections are missing their respective accessibility features, such as Screen Keyboard, Sticky Keys, Slow Keys, Bounce Keys, Mouse Keys, and Zoom.
If you need accessibility features in Ubuntu, I highly recommend using the Accessibility panel in Settings as you’ll have access to a lot of accessibility options and their settings to fully customize your Ubuntu/GNOME desktop experience to your needs.
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is slated for release on April 25th, 2024, and it will come with the upcoming GNOME 46 desktop environment series and Linux kernel 6.8. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will be available for public beta testing on April Fool’s Day.
Last updated 2 months ago
