[gui-talk] Accessible Alternative to MSE

Fri Oct 18 17:28:22 UTC 2013

hi,
I am using the nvda screen reader
On 10/14/2013 4:59 PM, Pamela Dominguez wrote:
> You are talking about Avast?  How do you do that? What kind of 
> screenreading thing do you use?  Mine says absolutely nothing and I am 
> using window eyes.  Pam.
>
> -----Original Message----- From: enes
> Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2013 2:13 AM
> To: Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Accessible Alternative to MSE
>
> hi,
> you can set  all shields to ask what to do when threats are found in the
> settings buttons under all the shields
> and those windows are totally accessible
> and the security report can be accessed through the interface
>  it also loads in firefox
> and is like a web page
> this is also accessible
> though self protection has to be disabled for avast to  expose the gui
> controls  to nvda
> On 10/12/2013 4:34 AM, Humberto wrote:
>> 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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>>
>>
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