Blind Main

Does anyone have any idea how to get a Cosmo working on something other than Duxbury DBT? Like Braille Blaster, maybe? My makerspace can't afford Duxbury, so this thing is only half as useful as it's supposed to be... Neither the Cosmo manufacturer nor the Braille Blaster maintainers could figure it out.

The past year has seen an explosion in new text to speech engines based on neural networks, large language models, and machine learning. But has any of this advancement offered anything to those using screen readers?

Happy World Braille Day!

Each January 4th, the birthday of Louis Braille, the day aims "to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people."

https://www.un.org/en/observances/braille-day

Ok so can anyone using #NVDA and Docs tell me why it stops announcing indentation info after page 2? I have checked everything twice, reloaded everything, no change.

@main @mastoblind @NVAccess

While NV Access enjoy some well earned rest, we may be delayed in replying for the next few weeks. Please do refer to the tips and links in our last In-Process: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-16th-december-2025/

A very Merry Christmas if you celebrate & a safe & happy New Year to all!

In this article, I will discuss the details of 10 innovations throughout history that were only possible through unlocking the power of accessibility and including the voices of people with disabilities. In the disability community, it is a deeply believed and often repeated fact that improving accessibility leads to innovations that improve the world for everyone. Necessity is the mother of invention is, after all, a proverb so frequently quoted that it has become a cliché. And yet, people with disabilities still find ourselves left out of research and design, and all too often we don’t get a seat at the product development table. This leaves our inventions overlooked, unrecognized, and sometimes unrealized.

Welcome to our last In-Process blog post for 2025! https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-16th-december-2025/

In this edition:

• Holiday Season Trading Hours
• NVDA with Digitech Reece
• World Blindness Summit Presentation
• Finding Things

Do check it out, have a wonderful break if you are having time off or a holiday, spend time with loved ones, and we look forward to catching up with everyone in 2026!

Following on from that last In-Process, I (Quentin) am mostly off until the a week or so into January. I will pop in from time to time just to make sure everything is running smoothly, but if you need a reply from us specifically, unless it's urgent (eg the website is down), we likely won't get back to you until the new year. If you need help with NVDA, please do check the resources in the "Holiday season trading hours" article in the blog. Happy New Year everyone!

cross-posted from: https://blackneon.net/post/94922

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So just out of curiosity this morning, I did a search on YouTube for Braille embossers to see what was new and I discovered the Braille Buddy. The thing is the size of a usual printer apparently, and only weighs 11 pounds. Back when I was in school, a little over a decade ago, Braille embossers were huge and definitely not portable. It says that it apparently works with Windows and Mac and comes with Tiger and can work with Duxbury, but if I was going to use it, I would want to use it with Linux. So I wonder if that would be possible.

While I was at it, I also decided to look up Braille displays and see if there was anything as cheap or whatever as the Orbit Reader 20, which apparently has been discontinued, but I don't see anything.

But I got a blast from the past when I opened an APH video talking about the Mantis Q40 Braille display and saw that the person talking about it was a previous co-worker of mine.

Shoutout Jennifer Wenzel. We were co-workers like six years ago.

This week's In-Process is a bumper one - but don't miss it because as well as all the news on NVDA 2025.3.2, more on configuration profiles and the NEW Web interface for the add-on store, we've also got a BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

All that and EVEN MORE at: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-27th-november-2025/

It’s a light plastic bowl shape with a hole in the center where a black plastic cylindrical piece screws in. About as tall as a coffee mug and twice as wide.

I’m really into coffee. I have an Aeropress and a home espresso machine. I recently got a V60 to make pour overs for my partner who likes gentle flavors and I’m doing OK with it, but it does tax my vision 20/200 in one eye.

For those not in the know, pour over is a coffee brewing technique where you pour hot water over coffee grounds on a poster filter. Think your Mr. Coffee, but manual. The V60 is basically a funnel with a flared base that you can put on top of a mug.

I just might get this brewer… Sometimes I’m not confident I can make a V60 without making a mess, but this looks so very convenient.

How do you fine folks make coffee? Do you feel limited by accessibility issues or do you have the perfect technique figured out?

NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2025.3.2 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, is now available for download. We encourage all users to upgrade to this version.

This is a patch release to fix a security issue.

Full info and download at: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-3-2/

The Release Candidate (RC) of NVDA 2025.3.2 is now available for download & testing. We encourage all users to download this RC & provide feedback. Unless any critical bugs are found, this will be identical to the final 2025.3.2 release. This is a patch release to fix a security issue.

Read more & download at https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-3-2rc1/

(Please note, if you have installed the current ALPHA releases, this patch is already in the latest alphas and you should not move to 2025.3.2).

This week's In-Process blog post is out! Featuring:

• NVDA 2025.3.1
• Reece gets Behind the News with Audio Description
• Manual configuration profiles
• Featured add-on: “Check Input Gestures”
• Bonus tip: Report keystroke

Read it here: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-10th-november-2025/

(Or subscribe for future issues at: https://nvaccess.org/newsletter ).

It's definitely worth it for Reece at least, he's a little firecracker!

I couldn’t see anything in the rules, or previous posts on this topic so apologies if this is the wrong community to ask…

…but my 10yr old boy just asked me to ask: “do people who have been blind from birth, when you dream, dream visual dreams, or dreams using other senses?”

Many thanks for any feedback!

@main @mastoblind @NVAccess do any of my fellow #NVDA #ScreenReader users know if the #Braille Extender add on is going to be updated to be compatible with NVDA 2026 and the shift to full 64b?

Just talked with #DisabilityServices at Colorado Christian University. They’re encouraging me to use #MicrosoftWord instead of #LaTeX for schoolwork, since Word has built-in dictation that could help when my #RheumatoidArthritis flares up and typing gets hard.

To other #Blind folks: how do you remember all of Word’s keyboard shortcuts? I swear I spend more time navigating the ribbon than actually writing. I stick with LaTeX because I can remember commands better than shortcuts.

They said Word’s dictation is accessible, so I’m giving it a shot. But I’m also wondering: what reference managers do you use? I’ve been using #Zotero since it works with #VSCode and LaTeX, but I don’t know how well it integrates with Word — and definitely not with #PowerPoint. My school has me doing a lot of #APA-style presentations lately.

Would love tips from anyone juggling accessibility, citations, and academic workflows.

@mastoblind@a.gup.pe @mastoblind @main

#Accessibility #AcademicAccess #ScreenReader #DictationTools #ChronicIllness #NeurodivergentAcademia #AcademicWriting #TechForGood #InclusiveTech #PresentationTools #CitationTools #AcademicWorkflow #DisabledAndAcademic #LaTeXCommunity #MicrosoftAccessibility #ZoteroTips

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/51644162

You know what would be kinda cool? A #Brailletastic. It would be a #Meshtastic node, but instead of a visual screen it would have a braille display and braille keyboard input similar to the orbit reader 20

To #blind people with experience with #PowerPoint, I need help! My school wants me to create a #presentation with speaker notes and graphics, and I'm having extreme trouble even getting started. My info text box with my name, school, and date covers everything up, and I can't figure out moving it or how to get to speaker notes. I normally create assignments with #LaTeX, but I kept running into issues making a presentation that way. I'm on #Windows using #NVDA. Disability services made this sound doable and even easy, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case.
#accessibility #MicrosoftPowerPoint #BlindStudent @mastoblind @main

Ok so I cannot really explain what in particular failed, but Microsoft's Copilot Vision and #NVDA do not play nice. I wanted to see if it could give me real time descriptions of whatever was under my focus, which it did a decent job of. However, it repeatedly caused NVDA to just completely cease responding, while also seeming to go not responding itself, I had to wait a few minutes each time For input and speech to return. I was still receiving notifications from other apps and programs, but navigation attempts, the just pressing the windows key, did nothing until it recovered.

@main @mastoblind

To #blind #Windows users, what #ClipboardManager do you use? I've been trying Ditto, but the keyboard shortcuts page seems inaccessible. I can't tell what edit field goes with what option.
#accessibility #Windows11 #clipboard #productivity
@mastoblind @main

NVDA 2025.3.1 Release Candidate is now available for testing.

This is a patch release to fix a security issue & a bug.

• Fixed a vulnerability which could prevent access to secure screens via Remote Access.

• Remote Access now returns control to the local computer if it locks while controlling the remote computer.

That moment when I happen to want to put on sunglasses and by also using my white cane I’m suddenly wearing the stereotypical dress of my people.

#blind
@main

This week's In-Process is out and it's a bumper edition! We've got:

1. NVDA 2025.3
2. Obtaining NVDA
3. Add-on of the week: AudioScreen
4. Chrome bug fix
5. Planned infrastructure outage notification
6. Bobby Singh – Finding Light Through NVDA
7. New issue template

Yes SEVEN articles! There's something for everyone :)

https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-30th-september-2025/

Reposting this since the groups went down, some Of this is available in #Braille, or in audio, on #BookShare and/ #NLSBard

https://www.goodreads.com/dhamlinmusic

@bookstodon @main @mastoblind #Blind #Reading #VisuallyImpaired