1

I installed Fedora 42 workstation and booting the installed system for the first time the first boot wizard appears. In that I need to set a location/timezone, however I am unable to work out how to do this using a keyboard only. I can only use a computer with a keyboard and I know the usual ways of navigating controls by keyboard, but this screen has me beat or it is not possible. Keyboard only navigation is a basic accessibility requirement. In my case I am blind, use the Orca screen reader and only use a keyboard. Can anyone tell me how I am meant to pick the location/timezone with a keyboard in the first boot wizard or is Fedora simply not accessible?

2

I used Google Gemini IA to show me the step by step to install Fedora 42 for blind.
Did you used the below commands and don’t they helped you?

Navigate the Installer: The Fedora installer uses a graphical interface. You will need to use keyboard navigation to move through the different screens and options.

Use Tab to move to the next control (button, text field, checkbox, etc.).

Use Shift + Tab to move backward.

Use Space or Enter to activate buttons or check boxes.

Use Arrow Keys to navigate through lists.

Use Ctrl + Tab to move between different sections of the installer.
3

Those instructions are for the installer itself (Anaconda). But the problem here is not in Anaconda, it’s in the gnome-initial-setup component which handles initial settings configuration the first time that the user logs into GNOME on the newly installed system.

There is a bug where that component crashes when the user tries to search for a timezone name by typing it. Bugzilla link: 2361117 – Fedora 42: gnome-initial-setup freezes if I select time zone by using the search bar / want to enable third party repos.

The workaround suggested for most users is to click the map with the mouse instead. However, that’s obviously an accessibility problem, because it is not available for keyboard-only users.

I’m afraid I don’t know a keyboard workaround for this, but I hope someone else will.

5

Again, I used Google Gemini IA to show me a Kickstart file to install Fedora 42 unattendend:

# This is a sample Kickstart file for an unattended Fedora 42 installation.
# It is designed for a basic Workstation setup.
# IMPORTANT: This file will automatically partition and format the entire disk.

# --- System Language and Keyboard Layout ---
lang en_US.UTF-8
keyboard us

# --- Network Configuration ---
# Use DHCP for the network connection.
network --bootproto=dhcp --hostname=fedora-42-unattended

# --- Time Zone ---
# Set the time zone. Replace with your location.
timezone America/Sao_Paulo --utc

# --- Root Password and User Account ---
# YOU MUST SET A ROOT PASSWORD for a successful installation.
# Uncomment one of the following lines:
# rootpw --plaintext your_root_password
# rootpw --iscrypted your_hashed_password_here

# Create a non-root user account.
user --name=youruser --password=yourpassword --groups=wheel --gecos="Your Name"

# --- Authentication ---
auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512

# --- Bootloader and Partitioning ---
# Install the bootloader on the first hard drive.
# The 'clearpart' and 'autopart' commands will erase the entire disk!
clearpart --all --drives=sda
autopart --type=plain --nohome --fstype=ext4

# Use an LVM-based partitioning scheme for more flexibility.
# autopart --type=lvm --nohome --fstype=ext4

# Set the bootloader location.
bootloader --location=mbr --append="rhgb quiet"

# --- SELinux ---
selinux --enforcing

# --- Installation Source ---
# Use the official Fedora 42 Workstation mirrors.
url --mirrorlist="https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=fedora-42&arch=x86_64"

# --- Installation Type ---
# 'graphical' is the default but it's good to be explicit.
install
graphical

# --- Reboot after installation ---
reboot

%packages
# Install the Fedora Workstation desktop environment.
@^workstation-product-environment

# Add some common developer tools and utilities.
@development-tools
dnf-utils
wget
curl
git
vim
htop

%end

# --- Post-installation script ---
# This section runs commands after the packages are installed but before the system reboots.
%post --log=/root/kickstart-post.log
# Update all installed packages to the latest versions.
dnf -y update

# Disable the welcome screen on the first boot.
systemctl disable initial-setup-graphical.service

# Clean up dnf cache.
dnf clean all

%end
6

I see the idea here, but not sure whether systemctl disable initial-setup-graphical.service works on Fedora.

On my F42 KDE, I have initial-setup.service but not initial-setup-graphical.service. Maybe it’s different on GNOME though.

7

Sysadmin that deal with several remote computers, he creates a Kickstart file, test it, then apply it to several remote computers without see each remote screen.
So, Kickstart file can be a solution to install Fedora 42 for blind people. Is the objective blaming about Anaconda or effectively install the OS?

8

The objective is to effectively install the OS.

My question is whether systemctl disable initial-setup-graphical.service is the correct command in Fedora Workstation to bypass the GNOME initial setup screen.

9

There are two objectives:

  1. Effectively install )fedora. A kickstart file may be a workaround, but its a crap user experience. follow standard install instructions, find its not accessible, have to research kickstart files, etc. I’m reasonably technical and this already puts me off, less technically able people would definitely give up.
  2. If there is a system bug, by which it sounds like there is, then the bug needs to be filed and addressed so the user doesn’t have such a awful first experience. Additionally the fact such a bug got in may imply improvements in testing needs to be made to stop such a simple accessibility bug getting through in future.
    “Blame” I would only be using in the sense to know which component to file the bug report against.
10

Right.

11

There’s an existing bug.

1 Like
12

Thanks, that answers the questions of is it a bug and where one should live and that there is already one. Not sure I really want to mark it as solution as the practical matter of using Fedora exists.

13

The problem is that even if it is fixed, the fixed version won’t be distributed until a new iso image is created. Then again, with Fedora Everything, also sometimes called the network install version, you will get the latest versions installed instead of the release version.

14

I have a feeling Orca or any other screen readers are not included on the everything ISO, so that isn’t really accessible install. Well it sort of can by using it in text mode via a serial console but that’s not simple and the text installer is somewhat limited.

15

I should have said, I really wish the everything ISO were to have accessibility included, in a way it would be my preferred installer.

16

May I suggest to watch this interview with a blind user

Linux Accessibility Needs Some Work | Fireborn

17

That is quite a long video, anything particular you want people to take from it? I agree with the general theme that accessibility on Linux is fragile and one is always waiting for the next breaking bug. When I have had it working fedora is may be one of my preferred distributions, but it does seem to be a constant flow of accessibility bugs where work arounds are needed. Each bug may just be a small thing but they add up and are possibly hitting the death by a thousand cuts point.

18

You can also watch these titles

Screenshot_2025-08-01_21-37-22
Screenshot_2025-08-01_21-37-221105×438 478 KB

These are parts extracted from the the whole. Only watch if you like.