How do I stop Orca Screen Reader?

I accidentally opened Orca Screen Reader from the Dash when I was trying to open Screenshot. Now everything I type or click on is spoken out loud.

How do I make it stop?

For reference, here is a screenshot of Orca Screen Reader running:

Solution 1:

If you don't need assistance, you might want to consider:

sudo apt-get remove orca
sudo apt-get remove gnome-orca
killall orca

I say this from the unpleasant experience of accidentally triggering it on several occasions. It is a sledgehammer approach but I have absolutely no use for it.

If you want to keep it but it's starting on boot now, short of hunting through the application to look for the off-switch, consider this question too.

Also note that the package name is transitioning from gnome-orca to orca. I'm leaving both above for the duration of supported releases.

Solution 2:

From the manual for Orca:

Insert+Q quit orca.

I've filed a bug about the poor user experience that results from Orca's current behavior.

Solution 3:

Keyboard Shortcut

Alt+Super+S also works to turn Orca off (or on).

Ubuntu 18.04+ : Configure the Keyboard Shortcut

In Ubuntu 18.04+, this keyboard shortcut is configured as follows...

1. Open "System Settings"
2. Select "Keyboard Shortcuts" in the left panel
3. Scroll to the "Universal Access" section in the right panel
4. Click "Turn screen reader on or off"
5. In the pop-up dialog, enter a new key combination to toggle Orca on or off

Ubuntu 18.04+ : Turn Off Orca using the GUI

You can also turn off Orca using the GUI. In Ubuntu 18.04+, the steps are...

1. Open "System Settings"
2. Select "Universal Access" in the left panel
3. Scroll to the "Seeing" section in the right panel
4. Click "Screen Reader
5. In the pop-up dialog, slide the toggle to the left to turn off Orca

Ubuntu 14.04 : Configure the Keyboard Shortcut

In Ubuntu 14.04, this keyboard shortcut is configured as follows...

1. Open "System Settings"
2. Select "Keyboard"
3. Select "Shortcuts" tab
4. In the left panel, select "Universal Access"
5. In the right panel, select "Turn screen reader on or off"
6. Enter a new key combination to toggle Orca on or off.