orca-c

Start ORCA with an empty workspace

$ orca-c

$ orca-c [path/to/file.orca]

$ orca-c --bpm [beats_per_minute]

$ orca-c --initial-size [columns]x[rows]

$ orca-c --undo-limit [limit]

$ <F1>

$ <?>

$ <Ctrl g>

orca-c [OPTION...] [ARGUMENT]
Example: orca-c --speak "Hello, world!"

--speak
    Speaks the provided text string through Orca's speech synthesizer.

--show-last-spoken
    Displays the last text spoken by Orca on the console.

--list-voices
    Lists all available speech voices configured in Orca.

--set-voice
    Sets the current speech voice to the specified voice name.

--query-state
    Prints the current operating state of Orca, including speech, braille, and magnifiers.

--read-line
    Instructs Orca to read the current line of content under focus.

--read-paragraph
    Instructs Orca to read the current paragraph of content under focus.

--toggle-speech
    Toggles speech on or off in Orca, effectively muting or unmuting the screen reader.

--stop-speech
    Immediately stops any currently speaking text by Orca.

--quit
    Sends a command to the Orca instance to quit and terminate.

--version
    Displays the version information of the orca-c utility.

--help
    Displays a brief help message with common options.

The orca-c command provides a command-line interface for interacting with the Orca screen reader. It allows users to control various aspects of Orca's behavior, such as speaking text, querying its state, managing speech output, and executing specific actions, directly from the terminal or within scripts.

This utility is particularly useful for automation, scripting accessibility tasks, or for developers and power users who need to test or debug Orca's functionality without direct GUI interaction. It acts as a bridge, sending commands to a running Orca instance, making it a powerful tool for integration into broader accessibility workflows or custom applications.

The orca-c command requires an active Orca screen reader instance to be running for most of its commands to function correctly. It is designed to interact with an existing Orca session rather than launching one. Its functionality is entirely dependent on the Orca application and its configuration.

orca-c is particularly valuable for scripting accessibility tests, creating custom shortcuts, or integrating Orca's speech output into shell scripts. For example, one could use it to announce system events or script automated navigations for testing web applications with accessibility in mind.

Orca, and by extension orca-c, is a foundational part of the GNOME Accessibility Project. It was developed to provide a free and open-source screen reader for the GNOME desktop environment, initially released around 2006. The orca-c utility emerged as a way to extend Orca's scriptability and integrate it more deeply into automation and testing workflows, evolving alongside the main Orca application to support its expanding features.

orca(1)