14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most important functions for any operating system, especially for the ones that are used by a lot of people, are the accessibility features. Ubuntu has support for people with disabilities, but there is still room for improvement.
We wrote a while back that the head of the Ubuntu desktop, Will Cooke, was working to enhance the accessibility features for Ubuntu 16.04. He's now working to get even more work done in this regard, just in time for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
"As the install experience has been improved over the releases, so too have the capabilities of these profiles. In 12.04, these profiles were available at the first installer screen, in the form of an indicator menu. Some profiles can also be enabled by using a keyboard command. This system currently has a few limitations," said Will.
According to Will, accessibility profiles will contain settings for any desktop environment that supports Gsettings, users and system administrators will be able to create custom accessibility profiles, these profiles will be switchable, and a few other changes have been planned. There is an open blueprint on Launchpad, and it's likely that more features will be added.
Ubuntu 16.04 will be an LTS (long-term support) release and users tend to adopt this kind of versions. It's easy to see why developers would want to have everything in order. Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is expected to land in April 2016.