A Pup for my Mom

Using applications, configuring, problems
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rmcellig
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Joined: Sat 19 Nov 2011, 15:18
Location: Ottawa Ontario Canada
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A Pup for my Mom

#1 Post by rmcellig »

This is what I am working with for my Mom:

Computer: Aspire Z5600-E1132 All In One 23"
DE: Openbox
Distro: Puppy Linux 5.2.8 (my favorite pup) Full Install

The attached pic is what I have done so far. This is all she really needs. What I need to do is make the icons and the text large as well. really big as she has trouble with her vision.

My goal is to make this computer as friendly and fast as possible for her. The icons on the desktop are functional and represent basically what she does.

I am also trying out other distros as well but I have to tell you I am running into all kinds of problems with screen resolution etc...

I have to say that Puppy 5.2.8 was THE only distro I tried that installed properly and in less than one minute.

Are there any suggestions that I could try out that you would suggest? I will be changing the Desktop background. Could I possibly get rid of the bottom task bar to keep the desktop as simple as possible so that my Mom will only focus on the icons and nothing else?

I'm open to all suggestions. Bottom line is that I want to keep this super simple yet functional for her.

Thanks so much for the advice!!
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Ray MK
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue 05 Feb 2008, 09:10
Location: UK

#2 Post by Ray MK »

Hi rmcellig

You could look at “Magoo
[b]Asus[/b] 701SD. 2gig ram. 8gb SSD. [b]IBM A21m[/b] laptop. 192mb ram. PIII Coppermine proc. [b]X60[/b] T2400 1.8Ghz proc. 2gig ram. 80gb hdd. [b]T41[/b] Pentium M 1400Mhz. 512mb ram.

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rhadon
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Joined: Thu 27 Mar 2008, 11:05
Location: Germany

#3 Post by rhadon »

rmcellig wrote:Could I possibly get rid of the bottom task bar ...?
You could use the auto hide function, menu- Desktop- Desktop Settings- Fbpanel configuration- Hide panel unless mouse over.

In this case it's maybe better to place the icons in the upper left side.

HTH
Rolf
Ich verwende "frugal", und das ist gut so. :wink:
Raspberry Pi without Puppy? No, thanks.

PaulR
Posts: 249
Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 18:45
Location: UK

#4 Post by PaulR »

Some thoughts (eyes are my trade but computers aren't so I'm not sure how practical some of these are).

If using a GUI (any X windows system):

Avoid cryptic icons: while the magoo thread has nice big icons, some (such as that for abiword) are impenetrable.

Include simple unambiguous text on the icon (eg 'Email', 'Web', 'Write', 'Facebook' etc)

Check out high contrast colour schemes on the web and use one

Use the largest fonts practicable

Remove ALL applications that mom is unlikely to use/want/need - for example remove terminal, pager from taskbar and strip everything from the menu.

Don't auto-hide anything - nasty surprises are the last thing visually-impaired people want and they probably can't easily see the mouse cursor - it is far better to rely on the keyboard (you can feel keys but you can't feel the mouse cursor position!).

Use ad-blocking add-ons in the browser to reduce screen complexity and tell mom about F11 (it's easy to find by feel and it removes a hell of a lot of clutter if most activity is web based)

Personally, if the number of applications required is small, I would boot into some sort of shell that offers just those apps, each with a shortcut key (eg F1, F2, F3.... not 'alt+w' or whatever!)

Paul

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stu91
Posts: 145
Joined: Mon 06 Aug 2012, 15:11
Location: England. Dpup. Dell Inspiron 1501

#5 Post by stu91 »

>align all desktop icons to one side of the screen
>use openbox margins so those icons are always visible and easy accessible even when an application window is maximized
>remove openbox right click menu
>keep the task bar as it has volume / time + date but remove anything in system tray that is not needed (connection icon - free space icon)
>remove menu and application launchers from taskbar
>add a shut down icon to the desktop
>keep virtual desktop to just one

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