I love my iPhone and even my Apple TV, but while I tried Voiceover on a MAC a little, it is not a system I would want to deal with on a day-to-day bases. Maybe that is because I have been using Jaws at first with DOS in 1989 and since the mid 90’s with Windows, but I can’t even imagine what such a bug would do to me now when my retail business runs on a web-based point of fsale and accounting platform and I virtually use Chrome (or sometimes Edge) along with Excel and Outlook literally all day long. Of course I don’t claim that Windows 11 with the latest version of a Chromium-based web browser or Firefox and Jaws 2023 and for a while now Jaws 2024 in Beta is perfect, but it’s very rare that Windows, Chrome or Jaws crashes when I use our point of sale, Lightspeed Retail and I often go the entire week without having to reboot my computer. On Saturday evenings we usually turn all the computers at my store off since we are closed Sundays, but once they get turned on Monday morning they stay on until Saturday evening.
Best regards, Sieghard From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of janet gross Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2023 4:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: We Deserve Better from Apple Why I Can No Longer Recommend a Mac to Fellow Blind Computer Users. Hello Everyone, Here is an interesting article I just thought some of you might like to read. https://www.applevis.com/blog/we-deserve-better-apple-why-i-can-no-longer-recommend-mac-fellow-blind-computer-users We Deserve Better from Apple: Why I Can No Longer Recommend a Mac to Fellow Blind Computer Users As many of you will know from personal experience, there is a longstanding issue with VoiceOver on Mac where Safari will frequently become unresponsive with VoiceOver repeatedly announcing the message “Safari not responding.” When this issue occurs, the user's Mac may become unusable for up to several minutes at a time. Sometimes it can be resolved by switching away from Safari. Sometimes restarting VoiceOver can resolve the issue. However, far too often, the user is unable to switch away from Safari or turn VoiceOver off, instead having to simply wait for their Mac to become responsive again. This “Safari not responding” behaviour when using VoiceOver dramatically impacts productivity and overall usability of Macs for blind and low vision users. Furthermore, it appears that the issue extends beyond just Safari - many other common applications that utilise Apple's WebKit browser engine can also be affected by the “not responding” problem. It is also important to point out this issue occurs regardless of the specification level of the Mac - it has been widely experienced on the latest Apple silicon-equipped Macs with 16GB or more of RAM, so even owners of top-tier new Mac hardware still face this crippling VoiceOver bug. This critical problem has persisted for years across multiple MacOS versions without a permanent fix from Apple. Given the longevity and level of disruption caused by this bug across Safari and other applications, I can unfortunately no longer in good faith recommend Macs to anyone who relies on using VoiceOver. The impact of this bug when performing routine, and often critical, tasks in Safari and other applications simply makes macOS an unreliable and frustrating platform. Macs have traditionally been popular within the blind community, and they offer some great accessibility features. However, frankly, Apple should be utterly ashamed that they have let this issue persist for so long without a permanent fix. It's a failing that raises serious questions about the company's frequently stated commitment to accessibility. There can be no doubt that if sighted users were to experience something similar, that it would receive significant media coverage and that Apple's response would be fast. I believe we need to escalate out urging of Apple to prioritise and permanently solve the “Safari not responding” bug that has plagued VoiceOver users for far too long. To this end, I encourage those of you who use VoiceOver on Mac to directly contact Apple's accessibility team at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> to share your own personal experiences with and frustrations about the “Safari not responding” issue. It is important we continue putting direct, polite pressure on Apple to prioritise resolving this problem. Please be constructive in expressing your concerns. Consider also copying Apple CEO Tim Cook on your email by using his publicly shared email address [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> to ensure he sees the direct impact this ongoing bug is having on Apple's blind and low vision customers. I want to emphasise that the “Safari not responding” bug is far from the only issue effecting VoiceOver users on Mac. As our recent post on problems in macOS Sonoma and the replies outline,<https://www.applevis.com/blog/macos-sonoma-new-features-changes-improvements-bugs-blind-low-vision-users> there are numerous other VoiceOver frustrations and failures impacting users. However, it has become a yardstick by which Apple's overall performance on and commitment to accessibility is being judged. It is a yardstick against which Apple has failed for some considerable time. I know many of you share my frustration. I welcome your perspectives and discussion in the comments. Collectively, we need to apply consumer pressure by being vocal about this issue and not purchasing new Macs until the “Safari not responding” issue is fixed once and for all. Apple simply must do better and restore our trust that Macs provide a stable and fully accessible experience for its blind and low vision customers. David Goldfield Assistive Technology Specialist Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive news and updates regarding the blindness assistive technology space Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> WWW.DavidGoldfield.com<http://www.davidgoldfield.com/> _._,_._,_ -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BL3P221MB0273E6C79CC1FB1F0F930FD8FCCFA%40BL3P221MB0273.NAMP221.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BL3P221MB0273E6C79CC1FB1F0F930FD8FCCFA%40BL3P221MB0273.NAMP221.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/SJ0PR12MB56618526B06F25574FA91A6BC7CFA%40SJ0PR12MB5661.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
