Quite the forum bug...
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 11:22 am
So, I'm visually impaired. I primarily use Jaws for Windows (http://www.freedomscientific.com) to use my computer.
Thankfully, I found an alternative a couple months ago.
I tried logging in to the forums today with jaws running, and my computer crashed. The sort of crash where you have to hold the power button and reboot the thing. I didn't connect it to the forum at first, but after rebooting and trying again, I got the same result. At which point I franticly started looking for a means of contacting someone (jaws decidedly cannot read the verification codes that guest posting and the "contact us" page require).
I got all the way through writing an email and preparing to send it to the email address that subscription notices come from, when I remembered a rather significant difference between Jaws and my secondary screenreader. Jaws has a video driver that lets it access visual information on the screen, while the other screenreader relies on communicating with applications more directly. Sure enough, my computer survived logging in using the other screenreader.
I did notice the thread where it was mentioned that we're experimenting with some new features. My first guess is that one of those new features causes Jaws' video drivers to self-destruct, though I can only imagine how a random forum feature could do such a thing...!
Anyway, I was pretty worried for a few minutes that I would be inadvertently locked out, so thought I'd bring this to your attention!
... And for that matter, this rich text editor is certainly interesting to get use to handling with a screenreader... But if you're reading this then I managed.
Thankfully, I found an alternative a couple months ago.
I tried logging in to the forums today with jaws running, and my computer crashed. The sort of crash where you have to hold the power button and reboot the thing. I didn't connect it to the forum at first, but after rebooting and trying again, I got the same result. At which point I franticly started looking for a means of contacting someone (jaws decidedly cannot read the verification codes that guest posting and the "contact us" page require).
I got all the way through writing an email and preparing to send it to the email address that subscription notices come from, when I remembered a rather significant difference between Jaws and my secondary screenreader. Jaws has a video driver that lets it access visual information on the screen, while the other screenreader relies on communicating with applications more directly. Sure enough, my computer survived logging in using the other screenreader.
I did notice the thread where it was mentioned that we're experimenting with some new features. My first guess is that one of those new features causes Jaws' video drivers to self-destruct, though I can only imagine how a random forum feature could do such a thing...!
Anyway, I was pretty worried for a few minutes that I would be inadvertently locked out, so thought I'd bring this to your attention!
... And for that matter, this rich text editor is certainly interesting to get use to handling with a screenreader... But if you're reading this then I managed.