Customizing the Appearance of the Desktop
This chapter describes the methods you can use to change the appearance
of the Desktop to enhance accessibility for users with
visual impairments.
Customization Options
There are a number of methods to enable you to customize the appearance
of the Desktop to suit your specific needs, as follows:
Themes
Themes are the most effective
way to change the appearance of the Desktop in a consistent manner. See for more information about themes and how to use themes
to achieve the type of Desktop that you require.
Desktop and application-specific configuration settings
You can customize different components of the Desktop
individually to achieve the display settings that you require. You can configure
the Desktop and applications in addition to using themes or as an alternative
to using themes. See for more information.
The following table summarizes the changes that you can
make to the Desktop and where you can make the changes. This manual does not
provide detailed instructions about how to customize the Desktop. For detailed
instructions about how to use the customization tools that the Desktop provides,
refer to the online help for each tool or to the GNOME 2.4 Desktop User Guide.
Quick Reference to Customizing the Appearance of the Desktop
To change the...
Use...
Overall appearance of the Desktop to use high
contrast colors, low contrast colors, or large print.
The Theme preference tool.
Appearance of the desktop background only.
The Background
preference tool and the Nautilus file manager Backgrounds and Emblems menu item.
Font displayed on the Desktop and
in all Desktop applications.
The Font preference tool.
Default font settings of the gedit text editor or Terminal application.
By default, gedit and Terminal
use the default application font that is specified in the Font preference tool.
The Preferences dialog for the application.
Appearance of icons and
tabs in the Nautilus file manager application.
The View menu and the Preferences dialog in the Nautilus file manager application.
Using Themes to Customize the Desktop
This section describes how to use themes to customize the appearance
of the Desktop.
Introduction to Themes
You can use themes to modify and control the appearance of the Desktop
in a consistent manner. A theme is a group of coordinated settings that specifies
how a Desktop component or a group of Desktop components appears. When you
apply a theme, the system modifies many Desktop components simultaneously
to achieve the desired effect. For example, if you apply a theme that increases
the font size across the Desktop, the theme also modifies the size of panels
and icons on the Desktop for optimum compatibility with the font size.
The following types of themes affect different parts of the Desktop:
Desktop themes
Desktop themes determine
the visual appearance of all windows, applications, dialogs, panels, and applets.
Desktop themes also determine the visual appearance of the GNOME-compliant
interface items that appear on windows, panels, and applets, such as menus,
icons, and buttons. Some of the Desktop themes that are available in the Desktop
are designed for special accessibility needs.
Window frame themes
Window frame
themes determine the appearance of the frames around windows only.
To Choose a Desktop Theme
To open the Theme preference tool and view
the Desktop themes that are available, choose ApplicationsDesktop PreferencesTheme. The Theme Preferences
dialog is displayed. Click on the Widget Theme tab to
display the Desktop themes that are available. To choose a new theme for the
Desktop, click on a theme in the Widget Theme list box.
The system automatically applies the theme to the Desktop.
There are several Desktop themes available that suit different accessibility
needs. These themes are described in the following table:
Desktop Themes Designed for Accessibility Requirements
Theme Name
Description
HighContrast
Provides dark text on a light background using high
contrast colors.
HighContrastInverse
Provides
light text on a dark background using high contrast colors.
LowContrast
Uses low contrast colors for
the background and foreground text.
LargePrint
Increases the font size to 18pt.
The background and foreground colors are the same as those specified by the Default Desktop theme.
HighContrastLargePrint
Provides dark text on a light background using high
contrast colors and increases the font size to 18pt.
HighContrastLargePrintInverse
Provides light text on a dark background using high
contrast colors and increases the font size to 18pt.
LowContrastLargePrint
Uses
low contrast colors for the background and foreground text and increases the
font size to 18pt.
To Choose a Window Frame Theme
To open the Theme preference tool and view
the window frame themes that are available, choose ApplicationsDesktop PreferencesTheme. The Theme Preferences
dialog is displayed. Click on the Window Frames tab to
display the window frame themes that are available. The Atlanta theme is an accessible theme.
To Create Your Own Themes
For information about how to create your own Desktop themes and window
frame themes, see the GNOME 2.4 Desktop System Administration Guide.
Customizing Specific Components of the Desktop
This section describes how to customize specific components of the Desktop
individually.
To Customize the Desktop Background
The Desktop themes do not affect the desktop background. Therefore to
modify the desktop background to complement your Desktop, you must customize
the desktop background separately using the Background
preference tool. To start the Background preference
tool, choose ApplicationsDesktop PreferencesBackground.
To Customize Desktop Background Objects
The size of the icons that are displayed on the desktop background is
controlled by the Nautilus file manager. To change
the size of the icons, perform the following steps:
Start the Nautilus file manager.
Choose EditPreferences..
Select the Views tabbed section.
In the Icon View Defaults group, select
the zoom level that you require in the Default zoom level
drop-down list.
To Customize Fonts
This section describes how to customize the font settings for the Desktop
and frequently-used applications.
If you have difficulty with the default font type and font size that
is used on the Desktop and desktop background, you can customize the font
settings to suit your needs.
You can specify individual font settings for the following Desktop components
and applications:
Entire Desktop excluding the desktop background
Desktop background only
Terminal
gedit text editor
Nautilus file manager
To Customize the Desktop Fonts
The Font preference tool allows you to specify
the default fonts for the Desktop.
To start the Font preference tool, choose ApplicationsDesktop PreferencesFont. The Font Preferences dialog contains the following options:
Application font
Click on this button to select a default font to use for the text that
is displayed on the Desktop, including the text displayed on the windows and
dialogs associated with GNOME-compliant applications and applets.
If you use the Theme preference tool
to select a theme that modifies the application font, the theme setting overrides
the font that you select using the Font preference
tool.
Desktop font
Click on this button to select a font to use for the text that is displayed
on the desktop background only.
If you use large fonts, you may need to change the size of panes
in applications that use panes such as, Nautilus
file manager and Yelp.
To Customize the Terminal Font
By default, the Terminal application uses
the default font settings that are specified in the Font
preference tool to display the text in the Terminal
window components such as the titlebar, toolbar, menubar, and application
dialogs. However, Terminal uses fixed-width fonts
to display the contents of the Terminal window,
that is the text that is displayed at the command line.
To change the font settings for the contents of the Terminal window, start the Terminal application,
then choose EditCurrent
Profile. In the General tabbed
section, specify a font for the window contents as follows:
Deselect the Use the same font as other applications option.
Click on the font selector button to select the font type
and font size to use for the contents of the Terminal
window.
To Customize the gedit Text Editor Font
By default, the gedit application uses the
default font settings that are specified in the Font
preference tool to display the text in the gedit
window components such as the menubar, toolbar, and application dialogs. However,
you can customize the font that gedit uses to display
the text editor window contents. To customize the font settings for the gedit window contents, perform the following steps:
In the gedit application, choose EditPreferences.
In the Preferences dialog, select the Fonts & Colors category.
Perform one of the following steps:
To use the default application font that is specified in the Font preference tool, select the Use default theme
font option.
To specify a font, deselect the Use default theme
font option, then click on the Font used by the editor button to display the font selector dialog.
To Customize the Nautilus File Manager Font
By default, the Nautilus file manager uses
the default font settings that are specified in the Font
preference tool to display the text in the file manager window. However, you
can further customize the font that is used in the file manager view pane.
To customize the font that is used in the view pane, click on the View menu in the file manager, then select one of the following
menu items:
To enlarge the text, select Zoom In.
To reduce the text, select Zoom Out.
To reset the text to the default font setting, select Normal Size.
Meeting Specific Accessibility Needs
The following sections summarize the steps you need to take to improve
the accessibility of the Desktop in a particular area.
To Achieve a High or Low Contrast Desktop
To achieve a high or low contrast Desktop, perform the following steps:
Use the Theme preference tool to
select the high contrast or low contrast Desktop theme that you require.
Use the Theme preference tool to
select a window frame theme. You should select the Atlanta
window frame theme for use with high contrast Desktop themes. The Atlanta window frame theme may also improve readability for some
users. However, you can choose the window frame theme that best suits your
needs.
Use the Background preference tool
to customize your desktop background as follows:
Set the Picture Options to No Picture.
Set the Background Style to Solid color.
Select a background color that suits your needs.
In the Terminal application, ensure
that the Use colors from system theme option is selected
in the Edit Profile dialog.
In the gedit application, ensure
that the Use default theme colors option is selected
in the Preferences dialog.
To Achieve a Large Print Desktop
To achieve a large print Desktop, perform the following steps:
Use the Theme preference tool to
select the large print theme that you require.
Use the Theme preference tool to
select a window frame theme. You can use the Crux, Atlanta, or Bright window frame themes with
large print Desktop themes, depending on the contrast level that you prefer.
Use the Font preference tool to
increase the font that is displayed on desktop background objects.
Increase the font size that is used to display
the contents of the Terminal application window.
See for more information.
If the Use default theme font option
is selected in the geditPreferences dialog, gedit uses the font size that
is specified in the large print theme that you selected. However, if the Use default theme font option is not selected, increase the font
size that is used to display the contents of the gedit
text editor window. See for more information.
If you use applications that use panes, such as Nautilus file manager and the Help browser, you may need to
change the size of panes to accommodate the large print. See the online help
for the appropriate application for more information.