On Sat, 27 Dec 2003, Jon Atkinson wrote:
> Hi,
>
> For Christmas this year, I bought my grandfather (85 years young) a
> second hand computer. It's a 1gHz/128mb/20G/Nvidia Geforce2 system, and
> I decided to put Fedora on it.
>
> My reasons for this are that I can lock down this box better than I can
> a Windows box, no threat from email viruses, pop up blocking in Mozilla
> and the fact that I can log in from university and fix his computer if
> anything goes wrong.
>
> However, I would like to pick everyone's brain about a few things:
>
> 1) Is there any way to remove the "Lock Screen" menu item. I've taught
> him to log off, but the menu items are just a little too close for
> comfort, and his hands shake quite badly, so removing this would be a
> huge plus. In addition, is it possible to put blank space (separators, I
> guess) in the main menu so that it's easier for him to click the items?
The simplest thing to do here is add a logout button to the panel. Then
he doesn't have to use the menu at all.
> 2) Is there any way to switch item selection in nautilus to
> single-click? I've tried to put everything he might use on the desktop
> (evolution, mozilla, home folder), but like I said he has some quite bad
> motor problems in his hands so being able to single click on desktop
> items would be really great for him.
At least some actions are controlled through Preferences -> File
Management -> Behavior.
> 3) He's accessing the internet with a 56K modem, which is ideal for his
> needs. Can anyone suggest a dialer application which is nice and simple
> for him to use. Currently he's using the 'Network Device Control' menu
> option, but basically there's just too much complexity and too many
> points of possible failure for me to be comfortable with him using it.
> I've used wvdial in the past, and it was nice and simple, and a quick
> google doesn't turn up and GTK frontends. The ability to remind him that
> he's still connected if the connection is idle for a certain amount of
> time would be a bonus also.
Try adding Modem Lights to the panel. It may take some fiddling to get it
configured, but it's pretty easy to work once it's set up.
>
> Thanks (I ramble a little), and if anyone has any other ideas/advice in
> this area it would be much appreciated.
Check out Preferences -> {Accessibility, Assistive Technologies, Mouse}
for some other settings that might prove useful.
>
> --Jon Atkinson
>
>
>
--
Matthew Saltzman
Clemson University Math Sciences
mjs AT clemson DOT edu
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs
