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<article class="h-entry post-text" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2020-02-23-text-formatting-for-the-blind/" class="u-url">text formatting for the blind</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Devin Prater
</span></p>
<p class="dateline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-23-text-formatting-for-the-blind/" rel="bookmark">
<time class="published dt-published" datetime="2020-02-23T13:46:56Z" itemprop="datePublished" title="2020-02-23 13:46">2020-02-23 13:46</time></a>
</p>
<p class="commentline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-23-text-formatting-for-the-blind/#utterances-thread">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<div>
<p>Text formatting is used in many areas, from books, newspapers,
articles, websites, and documents. Paragraphs, headings, lists,
italics, bold, and many other characteristics are used to emphasize,
denote chapters, and mark changes in scenes or actions. Sighted users
can use formatting to find points of interest in text. What about
people who are blind? Is formatting effective for us? Can it be
useful?</p>
<p>In this article, I will explore text formatting, and how blind people
use it or dismiss it. Like all of my other articles, this one will
contain opinions. This area is one that I feel should be discussed,
however, because it is an area of inclusion that I feel blind people
have ignored, and sighted people haven’t generally approached.</p>
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p>Text formatting is pretty much just information about text to a
computer. A bolded word, an italicized title, a heading line, or a
list of items are all ways of formatting. Sighted people see all this
in the context of their chosen font, but screen readers only read, by
default, a small set of textual attributes, and only by describing
what the attribute is.</p>
<p>If a screen reader user turns on the reading of styles or formatting,
the screen reader will, italics on describe italics off, the
formatting, which can become verbose, and sometimes doesn’t help
because the screen reader doesn’t pause after speaking formatting
characteristics, meaning that the user has to quickly parse what the
screen reader is saying.</p>
<p>So, is that it? Is the only choice for a user to hear little to no
formatting information, or hear it all in a quick procession of words?
There are other options, better in fact than anything done by most
visual interfaces so far.</p>
<h2>How blind people format text</h2>
<p>Blind people have a few ways of formatting text. The visual method
requires users to press a command, write their text, press the command
again, and review formatting with the screen reader. Braille allows
blind people to feel formatting, if supported by the screen reader.
Markup languages allow blind people to type formatting symbols around
text, which they can review with normal text navigation functions.</p>
<h3>Visual</h3>
<p>The most popular way of formatting for sighted users, choosing a
formatting attribute from a tool bar, is also how blind people format,
most of the time, using keyboard commands. It is easy because it is
familiar. All word processors support this, using similar keyboard
commands for bold, italics, underline, and indentation. Some word
processors, like LibreOffice on Windows, do not speak when these
keyboard commands are pressed, so users have to trust in their
keyboarding.</p>
<p>The problem with this approach is that one has to turn on the reading
of font information, like styles, for a screen reader user to be sure
when a particular formatting style begins and ends, and that a program
may not speak when formatting commands are pressed. Screen readers do,
usually, read headings and lists without needing settings changes, but
that’s about all. JAWS for Windows can be configured to <a href="https://doccenter.freedomscientific.com/doccenter/doccenter/rs25c51746a0cc/2012-06-20_TextFormatting/02_TextFormatting.htm">speak or play
sounds</a>
for formatting, but most users do not realize that this feature is
available, and so it is not used.</p>
<p>Not all is lost, however. Narrator now has the ability to read
formatting using different speech settings, like a change in pitch,
volume, or rate. VoiceOver on the Mac can "beep" for formatting
changes, although that doesn’t tell us <em>which</em> formatting information
was used. NVDA has begun working on refactoring its speech system, so
in the future, NVDA may be able to do what Narrator does, and more.
Imagine hearing sounds for each text attribute, instead of even having
vocal indications.</p>
<h3>Braille</h3>
<p>Braille is a tactile way of reading, and has plenty of standards for
showing formatting. If you get a book from a library in braille, it is
likely to have been formatted very well. Reading braille via screen
reader, however, is often a bland experience, with little to no
formatting information. Screen readers do show abbreviated symbols for
item types like headings, lists, and links, but not italics, bold,
underline, or anything else. One can use Status Cells, dots at the end
of a display used in a few screen readers to show text attributes, but
these are imprecise, as a formatted word would show, on that status
cell, as if the whole line were formatted. iOS uses this technique.
The largest problem with this is that there are standard braille
symbols for formatting, supported by the
<a href="http://liblouis.org">Liblouis</a> translator at least; they simply
aren’t used. In Safari, formatted text is often placed in its own
item, but that still doesn’t tell us <em>which</em> text attribute was used.</p>
<p>The only screen reader that currently shows any text formatting is
NVDA. It can show emphasized text, but that’s all I’ve found. It used
to show more, and why it doesn’t now I don’t know. The Braille
Extender addon adds the ability for NVDA to show paragraph
indentation. All other screen readers just show words, just like
speech, without any trace of formatting.</p>
<h3>Text Markup</h3>
<p>Text markup languages, like <a href="https://commonmark.org">Markdown</a>,
<a href="https://orgmode.org">Org-mode</a>, and
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML">HTML</a> allow the user to write a
document, web page, blog post, or book using formatting that anyone
can read. Screen readers may need to be set to speak most punctuation,
and in the case of Markdown and Org-mode, set to repeat more than
three characters. This is even used in contexts where it is not
supported, like Email, forum posts, and texts.</p>
<p>This type of formatting, for now, is the most accessible. It can be
read using speech or braille, and can often be previewed in a browser
or other format if a user isn’t confident in using the markup style.
Because of this level of accessibility, I believe that Markdown, or
even better, Org-mode, should be a part of text editing, everywhere,
in all operating systems. A user could write in Markdown, and the text
would visually be formatted, allowing all those *italics* to not go
to waste. If you use Emacs with
<a href="http://github.com/tvraman/emacspeak/">Emacspeak</a>, you hear formatting
when reading websites, Markdown and Org-mode files, and syntax
highlighting with source code.</p>
<h2>Why blind people dismiss formatting</h2>
<p>If you are sighted, imagine a world with no formatting. No italics, no
bold, no underline, just some headings, lists, and block quotes, all
practically the same, and absolutely no color. This is, even using
braille display, what blind people get. There aren’t even any separate
paragraphs, just chunks of text on mobile and Mac, and one long page
with some headings for division on Windows. Would you enjoy this?</p>
<p>If you are blind, you already know this world, and probably don’t
consider the possibility that at least one word on this page is
italicized, because for you, there is no formatting; it simply doesn’t
exist. Blind people don’t particularly like formatting because we
can’t really use it on the most popular system, Windows, with the most
popular screen readers, NVDA and JAWS, without much frustration. We
don’t dismiss it because we don’t like the idea, we dismiss it
because we don’t have access to that information, and don’t see the
uses for it.</p>
<h2>How formatting can be useful</h2>
<p>Let’s start with the obvious. Headings can mark chapters of a book,
sections of an article, and allow quick navigation through a page for
blind people. Lists are useful for itemizing content. Block quotes
are useful for long quotations.</p>
<p>What about the more invisible formatting, at least for blind people?
Italics is great for <em>emphasizing</em> things, bold makes things stand
out, and underlining is good for making something notable. If screen
readers spoke these things using differing speech parameters, or even
sounds, I’m sure that most blind people would find that they add some
color to our Grey, lifeless text, and make things we write look much
better to sighted readers.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>What do you think, reader? Do you care about formatting enough to use
<a href="https://pandoc.org">Pandoc</a> on just about every Word document, like
me, in order to see formatting? Would you rather not know about
formatting on your favorite websites? If you can see, do you not
really notice formatting, or do you find it essential and beautiful?
Please, let me know. I’d love to hear your feedback, whether it come
through Email, Twitter, or even a contribution to my blog’s <a href="https://github.com/devinprater/devinprater.github.io">Github
repository</a>.
Again, thanks for reading!</p>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2020-02-20-legally-blind/" class="u-url">legally blind</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Devin Prater
</span></p>
<p class="dateline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-20-legally-blind/" rel="bookmark">
<time class="published dt-published" datetime="2020-02-20T03:35:06Z" itemprop="datePublished" title="2020-02-20 03:35">2020-02-20 03:35</time></a>
</p>
<p class="commentline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-20-legally-blind/#utterances-thread">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<div>
<p>Have you ever downloaded a file that you didn’t have permission to
get? I have, many times in the past. This post, about copyright issues
faced by blind people, may spark much debate in our community, but I
feel that it must be written. It will cover games, books, films, and
software which blind people copy, the justifications for doing so, and
the harm that it can cause.</p>
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p>It was said, about 50 years ago, that some 70 percent of blind people
are unemployed. That fact, as overused as it is, is the number that
appears to be the most up-to-date data easily found. My experience is
that, indeed, many blind people are still unemployed. This correlates
well with illegal copying of files which will be discussed in this
article.</p>
<p>As usual with articles I write, I’ll start with defining terms. I call
the downloading or sharing of files which the user doesn’t have the
right to do so “illegal sharing,” “filesharing,” or “illegal copying.”
Most people just call it “piracy,” or “online piracy,” which I find is
more of a scare tactic and an attempt to put all the blame on the
sharer to further dramatize the alleged crime.</p>
<p>Blind people are in a unique position regarding filesharing. All of
our digital entertainment and livelihood is digital data, whether it
be books, music, movies, or programs. This can be true for sighted
people as well, but we’ll get to why blind people are more likely to
illegally download later in this article.</p>
<p>As for me, I have illegally downloaded plenty of material in my
teenage years. Now that I have a job and good income, I can afford to
buy whatever is available to me, but I write this article remembering
when I could not buy, and the people who still do not have the money,
or inclination, to buy digital material.</p>
<h2>Games</h2>
<p>Many people like playing games, and this is true for blind people as
well. Before we got computers, I remember playing Uno as a child at the
school for the blind I grew up in. When we did get computers, however,
I did begin playing games created specifically for blind people,
called <a href="https://audiogames.net">Audio Games</a>.</p>
<p>I remember downloading one game in particular, and because I had no
money, cracking it, meaning that the game was made a full version
instead of a demo, without purchasing an activation key. I spent many
afternoons after school on that game, and eventually getting into
others. Now, I rarely play audio games, focusing on video games
instead, which I find, personally, provide more enjoyment.</p>
<p>Video games, however, are also not safe from illegal copying. I’ve
downloaded many video games, new and old, without purchasing them.
From Mortal Kombat to Skullgirls, I’ve downloaded many video games
when audio ones weren’t enough. I no longer have the illegally
downloaded copies.</p>
<p>I, however, am not the only one. Recently, the audio games forum has
<a href="https://forum.audiogames.net/topic/29249/preparation-regarding-copyright/">begun inforcing
rules</a>
about linking to illegal sharing sites or files, and there has been
some backlash and discontent regarding such a policy. Users have
threatened to leave, site addresses have been censored, and
filesharing has most likely been pushed even further into private or
less formal locations. However, there are those less formal locations
for such a reason, away from a public forum.</p>
<h2>Books</h2>
<p>Reading is something that blind people have enjoyed, with
independence, ever since the adoption of
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille">braille</a>. Reading became even
more widespread with the introduction of audio books, chiefly lead by
the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/nls/about/overview/">National Library
Service</a> (NLS), which
basically gives blind and print disabled people free braille or audio
books. The downloadable audio books are protected by a special key
delivered by the NLS server, so one cannot simply listen to the book
outside of NLS’ apps. This service, however, has not proven to be
enough for some readers.</p>
<p>There are many ways for a person to consume the written word, and many
devices to do it on. The NLS BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download)
app is only available on iOS and Android mobile devices, and perhaps
can also be made to work on Chromebooks using the Android app. This
means that if a user prefers to listen to books while on a computer,
he or she will need to find a book from elsewhere without restrictions
on usage. The NLS also may not have a reader’s favorite narrator.
Audible books, however, are quite expensive, leaving the user to
illegally share that book. Readers may also want to simply read a book
on their computer using a screen reader. If one does not have a
subscription to <a href="https://www.bookshare.org/">Bookshare</a>, then Epub
books must also be illegally downloaded if the reader does not have
the money to buy them.</p>
<p>There is also a great service called <a href="https://www.graphicaudio.net">Graphic
Audio</a>, which creates a dramatized audio
play of books, with a full cast, sound and music, and abridgment of
some nonessential scenes. These titles can be very entertaining, but
are also costly if one wants to listen to an entire series. On the
other hand, they also have frequent discounts up to 40%, so one can
take advantage of those. Even then, these titles often are illegally shared as well.</p>
<h2>Films</h2>
<p>Many blind people do watch television and movies, although I usually
do not. I have done so in the past, however, and remember getting
plenty of films’ audio files with descriptions of visual content
added. This “described” television is very popular with completely
blind people, who want to participate in today’s culture.</p>
<p>There are a few sites online today which provide no video content, but
simply audio files containing the film’s audio track, with the
described content added on. These provide the same level of access
that a DVD would that contains description, but with a much smaller
file size. I thought nothing, during my teenage years, of sharing this
to friends simply by copying a folder full of described content onto
flash drives, and the same is done over the Internet today.</p>
<p>Streaming content subscriptions have become today’s Cable
subscriptions, and many blind people have simply signed up for one or
two of those. Almost all of them provide at least some description in
their content, and Apple TV Plus has provided it since its launch last
year. However, some blind people still share this content with
descriptions, in order to not pay a monthly subscription along with
more essential needs.</p>
<h2>Software</h2>
<p>Blind people may not be the majority of software filesharers, but
sighted people have not, in the past, needed to pay $10,99 for a
software package to access their screen. Indeed, while free options,
like <a href="http://www.nvaccess.org">NVDA</a>, are gaining in ability and
popularity, <a href="https://www.freedomscientific.com/products/software/jaws/">JAWS for
Windows</a> is
still more customizable. In the last year, Freedom Scientific has
offered a subscription plan: JAWS and updates for $100 per year, but
they still cannot compete with free, which continues to net NVDA more
users. Now, however, more and more blind people are able to do what
they need on mobile devices, which include a screen reader out of the
box.</p>
<p>I’ve said on some occasions that Text-to-speech voices are for blind
people what fonts are for sighted users. We may like different voices
for different contexts, and there isn’t one voice that clearly beats
any competition. Many voices that we use now sound more natural, but
do not quite have the rhythm and intonation of speech correct. Older
voices may sound more robotic, but also more smooth, and even if a
word is mispronounced, it is pronounced the same way every time. One
of these older, and more popular, speech engines is
<a href="https://codefactoryglobal.com/app-store/eloquence-for-windows/">Eloquence</a>.
Some blind people do not like it, but many others do. There is only
one problem: it hasn’t been updated since the early 2000’s.</p>
<p>Eloquence is known most for being the voice that JAWS has used for
many years. It was also used in Window-Eyes and many other screen
readers, and is also usable on Linux and was recently abandoned on
Android. Years ago, Nuance, the owners of the popular Vocalizer
voices, bought Eloquence, but have done nothing to update ot, or offer
it directly to customers. A few companies have tried to offer legal
versions, but the one I was gifted, a version which works <a href="https://www.atguys.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=231">directly
with
NVDA</a>,
does not work even as well as unofficial, illegally shared versions.
In fact, after a restructure of NVDA broke compatibility with the
legal version, an unofficial version was made to work before a new
version of codeFactory’s was released.</p>
<p>Blind people may even fileshare entire operating systems. In order to
experience Apple’s MacOS operating system without having to buy a Mac
or get a taxi to the nearest Apple Store, users download a virtual
machine containing MacOS to try, or even use long term, on a Windows
computer. This may extend a user’s access to services which may be
inaccessible or hard to use on Windows.</p>
<h2>Justifications of Filesharing</h2>
<p>Many blind people are poor. We look for jobs, but some people can’t
find one that they are confident in doing no matter what. Family
members may hold young adults back from looking for a job for
overbearing reasons. Government agencies may not respond to calls for
help, and Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are unlikely to hire
just any blind person, no matter the few success stories.</p>
<p>This means that blind people do not have the money to buy products, or
if they receive supplemental income, they, or their parents, use it
for food, rent, and other necessities. Of course, this simply means
that more jobs must become accessible to blind people, and government
organizations should implement more outreach to people with
disabilities who seek employment. This does not mean that the
government should pay for a blind person’s entertainment and digital
access, however. I believe that people with disabilities need jobs,
not more government money.</p>
<p>Blind people may feel that, because they do not have a job, and aren’t
likely to get one, that because filesharing is possible and easy, they
are entitled to get content. These people may illegally download
material, even if they have extra income as well, as they feel
entitled to it. They don’t usually hang out in public forums,
preferring more private areas of the Internet.</p>
<p>Some content may not be available for purchase. This includes games
which must be emulated to provide accessibility. I, for example, love
playing dissidia Final Fantasy. This game can be made accessible using
OCR technology which finds text in graphical content like games, and
is built into most screen readers. I can read the menus, battle
information, and unspoken character dialog, but only on a computer, as
the Playstation Portable didn’t have any accessibility tools. I worked
around this by buying the game on the Playstation Network store, then
downloading the game file from elsewhere, as the PSN store doesn’t
allow downloading the purchased PSP game.</p>
<p>This will become harder to work around, however, as older games may
become accessible using other methods. For example, where would one
legally purchase a digital copy of a Super Nintendo, Sega Megadrive,
or Gameboy game? Emulation, in this case, is used to add accessibility
to a game, and not for the express purpose of simply having a free
game. Most gamers, however, just download the game files, ROM’s,
without regard to buying it. Many developers may not mind users
downloading 8 or more year old games.</p>
<h2>The harm of illegal downloading</h2>
<p>What if you wrote a book, and sold it, but months later it was sold
using slightly different names? That is what happened to a few
developers of audio games. Called “clones,” these games used the same
programming, but slightly different music and names for items.</p>
<p>I believe that filesharing can lead a community to other, more
noticeable problems later on, including cloning. If people do not
think that they should have to pay for things which entertain them,
they may find other things acceptable too. This may not effect those
who are simply too poor to pay for content, or those who try to
ethically fileshare, but will effect those who feel entitled to
content.</p>
<p>Filesharing may also drive away mainstream developers from public
forums. As mentioned on the audio games forum, if mainstream
developers of video games see that we illegally copy books and movies, they
may wish to not lose sales of their own games to the filesharers of
our community.</p>
<p>A third problem with illegally downloading deals with developers in
our own community. If they do not make money, they may not feel that
developing general programs like book reader apps, or games for us
isn’t worth it, so we may have one less accessible program to use.
This isn’t to say that all software created by blind developers is
worth it; some games and apps are pretty awful. I do say, however,
that we should always reward good creativity, and that goes for all
creators of content and programs.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>In this article, I have discussed the controversial topic of
filesharing among blind people. We illegally copy just about any type
of content available, although music subscription services have made
filesharing music not as prevalent. There are justifications that
people may make, and harmful effects that the community should be
aware of.</p>
<p>So, my readers, what are your thoughts? Do you fileshare your way
through books, films, and software? Do you have enough money to spend
on entertainment and software you need? Do you feel that you shouldn’t
have to buy software and media? Please, let me know your thoughts,
anywhere you can submit them. I’m always eager for feedback on the
articles I write. Thanks again for reading them!</p>
<p>Also, if anyone has ideas or articles they’d like me to host, please
feel free to let me know. I will seriously consider all suggestions
for topics to write about.</p>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2020-02-16-open-source-blindness/" class="u-url">open source blindness</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Devin Prater
</span></p>
<p class="dateline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-16-open-source-blindness/" rel="bookmark">
<time class="published dt-published" datetime="2020-02-16T20:11:04Z" itemprop="datePublished" title="2020-02-16 20:11">2020-02-16 20:11</time></a>
</p>
<p class="commentline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-16-open-source-blindness/#utterances-thread">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<div>
<p>What if all of your software were free, like NVDA? What if the only
thing asked of you by software makers was to donate or contribute? How
would this effect your life, and the lives of developers? In this
article, I will explain what open source is, what it is currently used
for, my experiences with it, and how you can make it better.</p>
<h2>What is Open Source?</h2>
<p>Open source is a splinter of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_movement">Free Software
movement</a>. The
Free Software movement believes that everyone should be able to view a
program's code, and modify it if needed. The thing which sets open
source apart is that it doesn't mind working with companies which create
closed source, or proprietary, software which cannot be modified or have
its source code seen by the user.</p>
<p>When free and open source spokespeople talk about freedom, they mean
free as in free speech, not as in free things. This talk of freedom
upsets business, so the term "open source" is used instead. Much open
source software is free of cost, with the developers asking for donation
instead of demanding payment.</p>
<h2>What is Open Source used for?</h2>
<p>Open source software is just about everywhere, and often comes with a
tightly knit community of users. Examples of open source in the blind
community include <a href="https://www.nvaccess.org/about-nvda/">NVDA</a>,
<a href="https://www.libreoffice.org">LibreOffice</a>, <a href="https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca">Orca Screen
Reader</a>, <a href="https://brailleblaster.org">Braille
Blaster</a>, <a href="http://liblouis.org">Liblouis</a>,
and <a href="https://github.com/tvraman/emacspeak">Emacspeak</a>. Examples of
closed source include <a href="https://www.freedomscientific.com/products/software/jaws/">JAWS for Windows</a>, <a href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17173/windows-10-hear-text-read-aloud">Narrator</a>, <a href="https://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone/vision/">VoiceOver</a>, the latest
version of
<a href="https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6283677?hl=en">TalkBack</a>,
<a href="https://duxburysystems.com">Duxberry Braille translator</a>, iOS, Windows, and plenty of apps you may have on
your iPhone or Android phone.</p>
<p>Interestingly, some projects are a mixture of both. JAWS incorporates
Liblouis for braille translation, and so do Narrator and VoiceOver.
Apple uses plenty of open source tools: Python, command line shells, and
many command line tools on MacOS. Microsoft makes BRLTTY and Liblouis
available for download to interface with Narrator.</p>
<p>Linux, which founded many offshoots, is an entire operating system built
on open source ideals. Blind people began customizing Linux for use with
speech, and work is ongoing to make Linux an accessible operating
system. This began with <a href="https://wiki.vinuxproject.org">Vinux</a>. It
started up talking, something no other system had done before. One could
use it with speech or braille, and used the eSpeak voices.</p>
<p>That operating system, or distribution of Linux as they are called, is
now abandoned, not having been updated in years. Another project, <a href="https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=sonar">Sonar
Gnu Linux</a>, also
came and went. It was based on Arch Linux, and was my favorite
distribution. People now use <a href="https://talkingarch.info/download.html">Talking
Arch</a>, or
<a href="https://tarch.org">Tarch</a>, if they are adventurous and <a href="https://slint.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=en:installation">Slint
Linux</a> if they
aren't. These are the most popular Linux distributions for those who are
blind. If I've missed anything, let me know. Some distributions which
were not made for the blind are also accessible.
<a href="https://getfedora.org">Fedora</a>, <a href="https://trisquel.info">Trisquel</a>,
<a href="https://www.debian.org">Debian</a>, and <a href="https://ubuntu.com">Ubuntu</a> are
also able to be installed, but the user must know the correct keyboard
command to turn on the screen reader.</p>
<p>Most open source software can be found on <a href="https://github.com">Github</a>.
That's where NVDA, Orca, and many other tools, even for the blind, are.
But how reliable are these tools? What about the operating system? Could
one get rid of Windows with this software founded on ideals?</p>
<h2>My experiences with Open Source</h2>
<h3>Linux</h3>
<p>Accessibility is a software issue, so the root of software, the
operating system, will make or break any accessibility. My experiences
with Linux began, mainly, with an old operating system called
<a href="https://wiki.vinuxproject.org">Vinux</a>. I didn't stick with it for long,
and soon forgot about it, and it is now abandoned. Linux can run many
different desktops, which give users the major system functions of
accessing apps and system utilities. Gnome and Mate are accessible, just
about everything else, for now, including KDE, isn't. Vinux used Gnome
2, which is basically what Mate is now.</p>
<p>I came back to Linux for a short while with Sonar. I really liked it,
but missed the games and speech options Windows had. I liked all the
software that we have access to on Windows, and browsing the Internet
with Linux wasn't that good back then. I soon got into the Apple
ecosystem with an iPhone and such, and already had a Mac for quite a
while. Still, Linux called to me.</p>
<p>I'm never satisfied with the workflow I have. I always want to be more
efficient, more quick, more capable in what I do. I always want better
sound, even if 3D effects and virtual surround sound aren't actually
necessary or real. Like a sighted person wants great graphics, I want
great sound. On Linux, there is a way to enable virtual surround sound,
but it offers little reward, and much configuration, crackling in audio,
and doesn't augment stereo audio as options on other systems does. The
Mac has a third-party option, <a href="https://www.globaldelight.com/boom/">Boom
3D</a>, and Windows has <a href="https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-windows-sonic-windows-10-creators-update">Windows Sonic
for
Headphones</a>.
Both of these require nearly no configuration, augments much more audio,
and only Boom 3D causes a bit of sluggishness.</p>
<p>I also want a faster way of doing things. Many keyboard shortcuts,
letter navigation of items in lists and menus, and ways of only getting
the information I want. I have much of this on the Mac, with the Mail
app allowing me, through table navigation, to speed through subjects
instead of having to hear the row titles and contents and all before
what I really want to hear, and being able to go to the previous or next
message in a thread without needing to close the window. Linux has some
of this, but many times things are unclear, with Orca, the Linux screen
reader, just speaking the items, and not what type of item it is. This
is clear in the area of Audacious settings where you choose sound
effects.</p>
<p>Even so, Linux has such an appeal to me. I have tried Fedora Linux,
<a href="https://slint.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=:en:start">Slint</a>, Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, and found that there is always something
missing. Accessibility isn't that good in the graphical interface, and
much still takes a lot of configuring and asking the community. And I
really hate asking for help.</p>
<p>Recently, the <a href="https://mate-desktop.org">Mate desktop</a> team has
released a version with accessibility fixes. This is important, as
many companies, like app developers, Apple, and Google, rarely share
that there are accessibility fixes in minor updates, and don't even
share all the new features in major releases. This gives me some hope
that the open source community at large just needs more blind people
telling them about our needs. Then again, this is probably just
another of my excuses to bash my head against the hardened wall of
Linux, yet again. Plus, everything in the open source moves slowly,
and this is doubly true for open source assistive technology.</p>
<p>There are, however, blind people who use Linux, just as there are some
in the blind community who use Android. In fact, there is an entire
<a href="https://linux-a11y.org">Linux Accessibility Site</a>. However, the site
does have links to abandoned software, and doesn't link to all
accessibility initiatives, like <a href="https://stormux.org">Stormux</a>. Both
Linux-a11y and Stormux ask for donations, so there is also duplicated
effort and decentralization even in the blind Linux user community.</p>
<p>Now, I use a Mac. It contains enough open source technology to support
<a href="https://brew.sh">Homebrew</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_manager">package
manager</a>. I can run
Emacs, with Emacspeak on it, along with just about any command line
program I'd use on Linux. The Mac's graphical interface is good enough
for mail and some web browsing, just not so good with Google Docs, and I
can probably do anything on it that a Linux user can do.</p>
<p>And yet, sometimes, Linux calls to me still. VoiceOver isn't the best
screen reader out there, and Linux has the appeal of being run by
people, not corporations. And yet, looking at the <a href="https://www.gnu.org/accessibility/accessibility.en.html">GNU accessibility
statement</a>,
you'd think it was updated in 2006 or so. It may have been, which is a
slap in the face for any accessibility advocate. The GNU project, with
this statement, says to us that we're only worth putting up a quick
page, detailing the inaccessibility of old technologies and not
maintaining it. It tells us that we're a good poster to hang up in their
trophy room of "people aided by our courageous stand for the minorities
who desperately need our help," but then discarded for the "community"
to handle. After all, the GNU don't know anything about helping the
blind, do they? Can the GNU be expected to enforce accessibility among
their projects? Doesn't the government take care of the poor blind
people? Blind people have their Vinux and Sonar, why not just use those?
No, that is definitely not segregation, not at all!</p>
<h3>Open Source Programs</h3>
<p>I began using NVDA around high school. No one had ever heard of it at
that point, in a day when people called all screen readers either "JAWS"
or "Microsoft." I've not stopped using it ever sense. Its features have
grown, its users growing even faster. It now has a community of
programmers, translators, and writers. It is, in my opinion, the most
versatile Windows screen reader. JAWS still works okay for some things,
like malformed spreadsheets, but for everything else on Windows, I use
NVDA.</p>
<p>Braille Blaster is also a great project, making braille translation,
embossing, and transcription free. I use it for translating EBooks into
good, formatted braille files for reading on my iPhone using the BARD
Mobile app. Now, I don't even use Duxberry, even though it is provided
on my work computer.</p>
<p>I've found that open source programs, built upon closed source operating
systems, are the best compromise. NVDA, BrailleBlaster, TDSR, and many
other tools built for the blind community run on Windows or Mac. Having
a great foundation in accessibility makes all the difference for users.</p>
<h2>How can You help?</h2>
<p>Github, as stated earlier, is a hub of open source projects. One great
thing about the service is that anyone can contribute. Just make an
account, and you're ready to help.</p>
<p>If you can program, you can <a href="https://help.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request">collaborate by modifying
code</a>.
If you try the software and find accessibility problems, you can tell
developers about <a href="https://help.github.com/en/github/managing-your-work-on-github/creating-an-issue">bugs or
features</a>
that need fixing or adding. If you find a project you like, they may
have a Patreon to which you can donate, or you can simply spread the
word.</p>
<p>One large project which has become accessible through efforts of the
blind reaching out is Retroarch. An issue was created asking for
accessibility, and it was released in the very next version, and even
more work is being done to make even more games accessible. Open source
collaboration is great for even more than just programming. See projects
I'm working on, all text, on <a href="https://devinprater.github.io/about/">the About page of my original
blog</a>.</p>
<p>Another bit of news is that GTK, a way for programs to be displayed
and written, has had a
<a href="https://blog.gtk.org/2020/02/17/gtk-hackfest-2020-roadmap-and-accessibility/">Hackfest</a>,
where accessibility was extensively discussed. It is hoped that this means
that accessibility will become a larger issue in Linux, and that blind
people will one day be able to use Linux as confidently as they use
Windows and Mac now.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>As time goes by, I find myself drawn to open source. its promise of a
better way of making software, the community of helpful people, and the
freedom give me hope. While the Linux operating system does not come
close to satisfying the hope I have for accessibility, programs and
initiatives on top of Windows and Mac have thrived. While the poor
accessibility statement of the GNU project shows that the community at
large does not yet care much about accessibility, the community of blind
people working for our own future, rather than that of a corporation,
gives me hope of a bright future of digital accessibility for blind
people.</p>
<p>What do you think, reader? Does open source call to you as well? Do you
just use whatever system you're given? Have you made peace with Linux's
shortcomings around accessibility? Please, let me know. I am glad to
receive feedback. If you'd like, you may even suggest, via email or
Twitter, articles for which you feel passionate about that need
coverage. I will consider all that you send me, and thank you for
reading.</p>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2020-02-13-accessibility-consistency/" class="u-url">Apple’s accessibility consistency</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Devin Prater
</span></p>
<p class="dateline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-13-accessibility-consistency/" rel="bookmark">
<time class="published dt-published" datetime="2020-02-13T15:13:23Z" itemprop="datePublished" title="2020-02-13 15:13">2020-02-13 15:13</time></a>
</p>
<p class="commentline">
<a href="posts/2020-02-13-accessibility-consistency/#utterances-thread">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<div>
<p>This article will explore Apple’s consistent attention to accessibility,
and how other tech companies with commitments to accessibility, like
Microsoft and Google, compare to Apple in their accessibility efforts.
It also shows where these companies can improve their consistency, and
that no company is perfect at being an Assistive Technology provider
yet.</p>
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p>Apple has shown a commitment to
<a href="https://www.apple.com/accessibility/">accessibility</a> since the early
days of the iPhone, and since mac OSX Tiger. Its VoiceOver screen reader
was the first built-in screen reader of any usability on a personal
computer and smart phone. Now, VoiceOver is on every Apple product, even
the HomePod. It is so prevalent that people I know have begun calling
any screen reader “VoiceOver.” This level of consistency should be
congratulated in a company of Apple’s size and wealth. But is this a
continual trend, and what does this mean for competitors?</p>
<p>This will be an opinion piece. I will not stick only to the facts as we
have them, and won’t give sources for everything which I show as fact.
This article is a testament to how accessibility can be made a
fundamental part of a brand’s experience for effected people, so
feelings and opinions will be involved.</p>
<h2>The trend of accessibility</h2>
<p>The following sections of the article will explore companies trends of
accessibility so far. The focus is on Apple, but I’ll also show some of
what its competitors have done over the years as well. As Apple has a
greater following of blind people, and Applevis has documented so much
of Apple’s progress, I can show more of it than I can its competitors,
whose information written by their followers are scattered, thus harder
to search for.</p>
<h2>Apple</h2>
<p>Apple has a history of accessibility, shown by <a href="http://maccessibility.net/2011/02/10/blind-faith-a-decade-of-apple-accessibility">this
article</a>.
Written just under a decade ago, it goes over the previous decade’s
advancements. As that article has done, I will focus on little of a
company’s talk of accessibility, but more so its software releases and
services.</p>
<p>Apple is, by numbers and satisfaction, the leader in accessibility for
users of its mobile operating systems, but not in general purpose
computer operating systems. Microsoft’s Windows is used far more than
Apple’s MacOS. Besides that, and services, Apple has made its VoiceOver
screen reader on iOS much more powerful, and even flexible, than its
competitor, Google’s TalkBack.</p>
<h3>iOS</h3>
<p>As iPhones were released each year, so were newer versions of iOS. In
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/whats-new-accessibility-ios-6">iOS 6</a>,
accessibility settings began working together, VoiceOver’s Rotor gained
a few new abilities, new braille displays worked with VoiceOver, and
bugs were fixed. In
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/whats-new-and-changed-blind-and-low-vision-users-ios-71">iOS 7</a>,
we gained the ability to have more than one high quality voice, more
Rotor options, and the ability to write text using handwriting.</p>
<p>Next,
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/what-s-new-ios-8-accessibility-blind-low-vision-and-deaf-blind-users">iOS 8</a>
was pretty special to me, personally, as it introduced the method of
writing text that I almost always use now, Braille Screen Input. This
lets me type on the screen of my phone in braille, making my typing
exponentially faster. Along with typing, I can delete text, a word or
character, and now, send messages from within the input mode. I can also
change braille contraction levels, and lock orientation into one of two
typing modes. Along with this, Apple added the Alex voice, its most
natural yet, which was only before available on a Mac. For those who do
not know braille or handwriting, a new “direct touch typing” method
allows a user to type as quickly as a sighted person, if they can
memorize exactly where the keys are, or have spell check and
autocorrection enabled.</p>
<p>In
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/what-s-new-and-changed-ios-9-accessibility-blind-and-deaf-blind-users">iOS 9</a>,
VoiceOver users are able to choose Siri voices to speak using VoiceOver,
as an extension of the list of Vocalizer voices, and Apple’s Alex voice.
One can now control speech rate more easily, and the speed of speech can
be greater than previously possible. One can control the time a double
tap should take, a better method of selecting text, braille screen input
improvements, and braille display fixes and new commands.</p>
<p>Then,
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/what-s-new-ios-10-accessibility-blind-low-vision-and-deaf-blind-users">iOS 10</a>
arrived, with a new way to organize apps, a pronunciation dictionary,
even more voices, reorganized settings, new sounds for actions, a way to
navigate threaded email, and some braille improvements. One great thing
about the pronunciation editor is that it does not only apply to the
screen reader, as in many Windows screen readers, but to the entire
system speech. So, if you use VoiceOver, but also Speak Screen, both
will speak as you have set them to. This is a testament to Apple’s
attention to detail, and control of the entire system.</p>
<p>With the release of
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/whats-new-ios-11-accessibility-blind-low-vision-and-deaf-blind-users">iOS 11</a>,
we gained the ability to type to Siri, new Siri voices, verbosity
settings, the ability to have subtitles read or brailled, and the
ability to change the speaking pitch of the voice used by VoiceOver.
VoiceOver can now describe some images, which will be greatly expanded
later. We can now find misspelled words, which will also be expanded
later. One can now add and change commands used by braille displays,
which, yes, will be expanded upon later. A few things which haven’t been
expanded upon yet are the ability to read formatting, however imprecise,
with braille “status cells,” and the “reading” of Emoji. Word wrap and a
few other braille features were also added.</p>
<p>Last year, in
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/apple-releases-ios-12-bringing-new-and-enhanced-features-and-performance-improvements">iOS 12</a>,
Apple added commands to jump to formatted text for braille display
users, new Siri voices, verbosity options, confirmation of rotor actions
and sent messages, expansion of the “misspelled” rotor option for
correcting the misspelled word, and the ability to send VoiceOver to an
HDMI output.</p>
<p>Finally, In
<a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/whats-new-ios-13-accessibility-individuals-who-are-blind-or-deaf-blind">iOS 13</a>,
Apple moved accessibility to the main settings list, out of the General
section, provided even more natural Siri voices, haptics for VoiceOver,
to aid alongside, or replace, the sounds already present, and the
ability to modify or turn them off. A “vertical scroll bar” has also
been added, as another method of scrolling content. VoiceOver can now
give even greater suggestions for taking pictures, aligning the camera,
and with the iPhone 11, what will be in the picture. One can also
customize commands for the touch screen, braille display, and keyboard,
expanding the ability braille users already had. One can even assign
Siri shortcuts to a VoiceOver command, as Mac users have been able to do
with Apple Script. One can now have VoiceOver interpret charts and
graphs, either via explanations of data, or by an audible representation
of them. This may prove extremely useful in education, and for
visualizing data of any type. Speaking detected text has improved over
the versions to include the detecting of text in unlabeled controls, and
now can attempt to describe images as well. Braille users now have
access to many new braille tables, like Esperanto and several other
languages, although braille no longer switches languages along with
speech.</p>
<h3>MacOS</h3>
<p>MacOS has not seen so much improvement in accessibility over the years.
VoiceOver isn’t a bad screen reader, though. It can be controlled using
a trackpad, which no other desktop screen reader can boast. It can be
used to navigate and activate items with only the four arrow keys. It
uses the considerable amount of voices available on the Mac and for
download. It simply isn’t updated nearly as often as VoiceOver for iOS.</p>
<p>OSX 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9 have seen a few new features, like more
VoiceOver voices, braille improvement, and other things. I couldn’t find
much before Sierra, so we’ll start there.</p>
<p>In Sierra, Apple added VoiceOver commands for controlling volume, to
offset the absence of the physical function keys in new MacBook models.
VoiceOver can also now play a sound for row changes in apps like Mail,
instead of interrupting itself to announce “one row added,” because
Apple’s speech synthesis server on the Mac doesn’t innately support a
speech queue. This means that neither does VoiceOver, so interruptions
must be worked around. Some announcements were changed, HTML content
became web areas, and interaction became “in” and “out of” items. There
were also bug fixes in this release.</p>
<p>In High Sierra, one can now type to Siri, VoiceOver can now switch
languages when reading multilingual text, as VoiceOver on the iPhone has
been able to do since iOS 5 at least, improved braille editing and PDF
reading support, image descriptions, and improved HTML 5 support.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/new-features-changes-and-accessibility-bugs-macos-mojave-blind-and-low-vision-users">MacOS
Mojave</a>,
Apple added the beginning of new iPad apps on Mac. These apps work
poorly with VoiceOver, even still in Catalina. There were no new
reported VoiceOver features in this release.</p>
<p>This year, In <a href="https://www.applevis.com/blog/new-features-changes-improvements-and-bugs-macos-catalina-blind-and-low-vision-users">MacOS
Catalina</a>,
Apple added more control of punctuation, and XCode 11’s text editor is
now a little more accessible, even though the Playgrounds function
isn’t, and the Books app can now, after years of being on the Mac, be
used for basic reading of books. Braille tables from iOS 13 are also
available in MacOS.</p>
<h3>The future of Apple accessibility</h3>
<p>All of these changes, however, were discovered by users. Apple doesn’t
really talk about all of its accessibility improvements, just some of
the highlights. While I see great potential in accessible diagrams and
graphs, Apple didn’t mention this, and users had to find this.
Subsequently, there may be fixes and features that we still haven’t
found, three versions of iOS 13 later. Feedback between Apple and its
customers has never been great, and this is only to Apple’s detriment.
Since Apple rarely responds to little feedback, users feel that their
feedback doesn’t mean anything, so they stop sending it. Also of note is
that on VoiceOver’s <a href="https://www.apple.com/accessibility/mac/vision/">Mac accessibility
page</a>, the “Improved
PDF, web, and messages navigation” section is from macOS 10.13, two
versions behind what is currently new in VoiceOver.</p>
<p>Another point is that services haven’t been the most accessible. Chief
among them is Apple Arcade, which <a href="https://applevis.com/forum/apple-arcade-anyone">has no accessible
games</a>, so far. Apple
research, I’ve found, has some questions which have answers that are
simply unlabeled buttons. While Apple TV Plus has audio description for
all of their shows, this is a minor glimmer of light, shrouded by the
inaccessibility of Apple Arcade, which features, now, over one hundred
games, none of which I can play with any success. In all fairness, a
blind person who is patient may be able to play a game like Dear Reader,
which has some accessible items, but the main goal of that game is to
find a word in a different color and correct it, which is completely at
odds with complete blindness, but could be handled using speech
parameter changes, audio cues, or other signals of font, color, or style
changes.</p>
<p>Time will tell if this new direction, no responsibility for not only
other developers’ work, but also the Mac and work done by other
developers and flaunted by Apple, will become the norm. After all, Apple
Arcade is an entire Tab of the App Store; inaccessibility is in plain
view. As a counterpoint, the first iPhone software, and even the second
version, was inaccessible to blind people, but now the iPhone is the
most popular smart phone, in developed nations, for blind people.</p>
<p>Perhaps next year, Apple Arcade will have an accessible game or two. I
can only hope that this outcome comes true, and not the steady stepping
back of Apple from one of their founding blocks: accessibility. We
cannot know, as no one at Apple tells us their plans. We aren’t the only
ones, though, as mainstream technology media shows. We must grow
accustom to waiting on Apple to show new things, and reacting
accordingly, but also providing feedback, and pushing back against
encroaching inaccessibility and decay of macOS.</p>
<h2>Apple’s competitors</h2>
<p>In this blog post, I compare operating systems. To me, an operating
system is the root of all software, and thus, the root of all digital
accessibility. With this in mind, the reader may see why it is
imperative that the operating system be as accessible, easy and
delightful to use, and promote productivity as much as possible.
Microsoft and Google are the largest competitors of Apple in the closed
source operating system space, so they are what I will compare Apple to
in the following sections.</p>
<h3>Google</h3>
<p>Google is the main contributor to the Android and Chromium projects.
While both are open source, both are simply a base to be worked from,
not the end result. Not even Google’s phones run “pure” Android, but
have Google services and probably other things on the phone as well.
Both, though, have varying accessibility as well. While Apple pays great
attention to its mobile operating system’s accessibility, Google does
not seem to put many resources towards that. However, its Chrome OS,
which is used much in education, is much more easily accessible, and
even somewhat of an enjoyable experience for a lite operating system.</p>
<h4>Android</h4>
<p>Android was released one year after iOS. TalkBack was released as part
of Android 1.6. Back then, it only supported navigation via a keyboard,
trackpad, or scroll ball. It wasn’t until version 4 when touch screen
access was implemented into TalkBack for phones, and up to this day,
only supports commands done with one finger, two finger gestures being
passed through to Android as one finger commands. TalkBack has worked
around this issue by recently, in Android version 8, gaining the ability
to use the finger print sensor, if available, as a gesture pad for
setting options, and the ability the switch spoken language, if using
Google TTS, when reading text in more than one language. TalkBack uses
graphical menus for setting options otherwise, or performing actions,
like deleting email. It can be used with a Bluetooth keyboard. By
default, it uses Google TTS, a lower quality, offline version of speech
used for things like Google Translate, Google Maps, and the Google Home.
TalkBack cannot use the higher quality Google TTS voices. Instead,
voices from other vendors are downloaded for more natural sound.</p>
<p>BrailleBack, discussed <a href="https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/3535226">on its Google Support
page</a>,
is an accessibility service which, when used with TalkBack running,
provides rudamentary braille support to Android. Commands are rugged,
meaningless, and unfamiliar to users of other screen readers, and
TalkBack’s speech cannot be turned off while using Brailleback, meaning
that, as one person helpfully provided, that one must plug in a pair of
headphones and not wear them, or turn down the phone’s volume, to gain
silent usage of one’s phone using braille. Silent reading is one of
braille’s main selling points, but accessibility, if not given the
resources necessary, can become a host of workarounds. Furthermore,
brailleback must be installed onto the phone, providing another barrier
to entry for many deaf-blind users, so some simply buy iPods for braille
if they wish to use an Android phone for customization or contrarian
reasons, or simply stick with the iPhone as most blind people do.</p>
<p>Now, though, many have moved to a new screen reader created by a Chinese
developer, called Commentary. This screen reader does, however, have the
ability to <a href="https://www.inclusiveandroid.com/content/commentary-screen-reader-decrypts-your-phone-if-you-have-full-encryption-turned">decrypt your
phone</a>
if you have encryption enabled. For braille users,
<a href="https://brltty.app">BRLTTY</a> is used for braille usage. This level of
customization, offset by the level of access which apps have to do
anything they wish to your phone, is an edge that some enjoy living on,
and it does allow things like third-party, and perhaps better screen
readers, text to speech engines, apps for blind people like <a href="https://www.seeingwithsound.com">The
vOICe</a>, which gives blind people