[gui-talk] Accessible Alternative to MSE

[Humberto]

This is a very interesting topic, especially when dealing with antivirus 
programs, and their security behind them, versus the inaccessibility that 
blind people have to deal with for most of them. I have tried different 
antimalware solutions for my computers (laptop and desktop), and probably, 
none of them convince me in the accessibility category. This is especially 
true as far as their popup messages, not their interfaces, are concerned.



When I tried the AVG internet security 2013 free trial, I was able to 
navigate their user interface quite usably with the JAWS cursor, and I was 
able to perform functions using the menu bar. However, when I t came time 
for those popup windows that appear in the notification area, it's where 
JAWS says only "AVG Internet Security 2013", and nothing else. Of course, my 
first natural reaction to the inaccessible message is, Oh god, there is 
malware on my computer! but I discovered since the message was very 
inaccessible with JAWS 12 even with the JAWS cursor, I had to restart my 
computer and loaded jfw14 and had to wait for the message to display again, 
if any. When it did come up, I found out, through the tentatively good JAWS 
OCR, that it was not some warm installed in my system but just a message 
wanting me to upgrade to a licensed version or let my trial expire.

This, pretty much, is the same with AVG basic protection, and most other 
antivirus programs. I currently use Avast! Free Antivirus on both of my 
systems, and don't have a problem navigating the GUI with the JAWS cursor 
except in a few areas, and I have to admit that the log reports that it 
creates, especially with threat reports, are very inaccessible. The popup 
windows in the system tray that appear are also not accessible, and I have 
to use the magical but tentatively good OCR function in JAWS 14 to try to 
decipher what is going on with my security. (And I say "tentative" because 
the OCR is always subject to doing or not doing its job and / or not doing 
it well as I expect.) Sometimes I get update program notifications, other 
times it is just security reminders like to update my flash.

The only thing that Avast does which is really good is make an audio alert 
for when a threat is found, or when it updates the definitions.



But what about taking actions such as removing an infection? This is where I 
feel like they should be part of the list of software and hardware 
necessities covered by section 508 and / or the Americans with disabilities 
act of 1990. I feel like if antivirus companies keep making their products 
inaccessible, they will undo the efforts of blind advocates and will restore 
the perception that blind people are not capable of using a computer and 
therefore cannot manage its security. This is my 12 cents for what it's 
worth. Take care.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerald Levy" <bwaylimited at verizon.net>
To: <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 5:21 AM
Subject: [gui-talk] Accessible Alternative to MSE


>
> Recently, Microsoft created an uproar when it admitted that Microsoft 
> Security Essentials was not up to snuff and recommended that users switch 
> to a third-party anti-virus program for better protection against malware 
> threats.  But feedback on other lists suggests that none of the other free 
> anti-virus programs -AVG, Avast or Avira-is especially screen reader 
> friendly, and in their most recent versions, they are apparently 
> inaccessible and thus unusable altogether.  And some of the paid 
> anti-virus programs aren't much better.  Some of them either have 
> inaccessible interfaces or else require sighted assistance to uninstall or 
> remove or require solving an image captcha to complete the purchase 
> process that is not solvbable with Webvisum.  So has anyone found an 
> anti-virus program, preferabley free,  that is just as accessible and easy 
> to use as MSE and that is not a hassle to remove in the event that it 
> doesn't work out? Thanks.
>
> Gerald
>
>
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