[gui-talk] Accessible Alternative to MSE

[Gerald Levy]

At least Microsoft has made Microsoft Security Essentials accessible and 
easy to use, unlike its rivals, who seem to have absolutely no commitment 
whatsoever to making their anti-virus programs accessible.  And thankfully, 
it may not be necessary to stop using MSE, after all.  Check out this 
article whose author makes some very convincing arguments to continue using 
MSE despite Microsoft's recent recommendation that MSE users switch to a 
third-party anti-virus program for better protection:

http://askleo.com/do-i-need-to-stop-using-microsoft-security-essentials/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ask-leo+%28Ask+Leo%21%29&utm_content=FeedBurner


Gerald


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Humberto" <humbertoa5369 at netzero.net>
To: "Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk Mailing List" 
<gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Accessible Alternative to MSE


> 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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