So, at the beginning, Linux started with console only for us blind folks. It is only in 2007 or so that the GUI really started taking off. Back in the days of gnome 2, the accessibility was extremely impressive. The UI was fluid, and every program in ubuntu (that's what I was using back then) was seemingly designed with accessibility in mind. Reality was probably different, but to me, it seemed this way. I loved it. Ubuntu 8.10 was the first Linux I ever used. Of course, QT was not even on the table yet when it came to accessibility, but, it was the glorious days of GTK.