Hello everyone, a daily Linux user here.
First of all, I would like to clarify the statements here about Linux and GUI are a myth. Yes, there are few people using Linux from terminal only, yes, Linux is a modern, fully GUI usable system and yes, it's accessible and yes, knowing a terminal is a good thing even if you're a regular user, you'll use GUI 99% of the time, but terminal can save you a lot of time.
As already stated here, Ubuntu Mate is the most accessible distribution right now. It can be installed without any sighted assistance, since Orca is included by default and the installer is accessible, I've done this many many times on physical devices as well as VMs. I really recommend going with 23.04, as important accessibility development in Orca has been made since that doesn't work in the LTS unfortunately.
When it comes to Mate, you may want to check out my umai and mlock projects, see:
https://github.com/RastislavKish
you'll find another Linux related content too!
Note: I've been planning on making few changes in umai, to make it compatible with UM 23.04, but also to reflect new circumstances and best practices.
If you like the project and would like to use it, please PM me, I'll bump it on my todo list so you could get the best possible experience. Don't wory, it's nothing big, just few changes, it's just me being partly lazy and partly busy to make them happen.
Also, one personal recommendation. VMs are good, but if you want to truly get a grip of Linux, nothing beats installing it on your own laptop and using it for at least a month. That way, you won't get bored after few minutes of playing, you will get better impressions when you find non-obvious solutions, and also, you'll have a much faster response time than any Windows VM software can provide.
For further tips, you can search my audiogames.net messages for the keyword Linux, I had been giving hints several times on the forum.
you can also join our Orca mailing list at freelists, or the Blinux mailing list.
Have fun!