[BlindRUG] BlindRUG Digest, Vol 72, Issue 1

Tue May 30 09:40:38 UTC 2023

Hi Jonathan,

I naturally agree with all the suggestions already put forward. In my opinion, the biggest barrier to access, particularly for a beginner, is in the accessibility of the R output. The fact that the user has to use the screen reader's mouse cursor, eg the JAWS cursor or screen review in NVDA, increases the learning curve significantly. I work very interactively, i.e. run a command, inspect the output, run another command. The difficulties in accessing the output in the GUI or Terminal therefore requires me to use an external package. Like Liz I use Emacs, although VSCode is becoming an increasingly viable solution (under Windows at least, not sure about Mac). However, both VSCode and particularly Emacs come with a learning curve of their own, which is another barrier to access for R beginners. Would it not be possible to have  a means of revealing the R output within the R GUI/Terminal so as it is easily readable with standard screen reading commands, as well as being scrollable, and with the ability to be selected for copying to the clipboard? Perhaps we could take inspiration from VSCode, which has a window for entering commands, and a keystroke that puts focus in the output of those commands.

I wish you luck!

Bests,
Robin

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindRUG <blindrug-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Liz Hare via BlindRUG
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2023 9:52 PM
To: Blind R Users Group <blindrug at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Liz Hare <doggene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [BlindRUG] BlindRUG Digest, Vol 72, Issue 1

Hello,

I think having an Rgui for Mac users that is accessible with the VOiceOver screen reader would be really helpful to people starting to learn R. THe last time I tried VScode it didn't work with the screen reader on Mac. I use emacs but it's really not beginner -friendly.

Can CRAN require package documentation to have alt text when images are used? For example, the {gtsummary} package makes great HTML tables but there are images in the documentation to show what the tables look like.

I second the idea that accessible learning materials should not assume the use of RStudio/Posit. New users don't need the cognitive load of figuting out which instructions are for the IDE..

I'll let you know if I think of more. 

Liz

> On May 27, 2023, at 4:17 PM, Jonathan Godfrey via BlindRUG <blindrug at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> The request for a dark theme in `ggplot2` could probably be handled as an issue on the GitHub site. I did think there was a dark theme of some sort though, so perhaps the description needs to be more informative. FWIW, I don't live in this space so I can't do justice to a low-vision person's request without understanding what the limitations of the current options are. I would need help.
> 
> WRT RStudio: This will get a mention if/when necessary, but I'm pretty confident the issue is known and not likely to be resolved in this setting (if at all).
> 
> More ideas please everyone,
> Jonathan
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindRUG <blindrug-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Marcus Low 
> via BlindRUG
> Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2023 1:16 AM
> To: blindrug at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Marcus Low <low.marcus at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [BlindRUG] BlindRUG Digest, Vol 72, Issue 1
> 
> Dear Jonathan
> 
> I support your list. The only two suggestions i'd add are not base R 
> issues, but may still be worth airing depending on who is present:
> 
> - RStudio accessibility (an old issue i know, but i think poor RStudio 
> accessibility is still a barrier to entry for some people when it 
> comes to R.)
> 
> - And it would be great if just one of the themes included in
> ggplot2() can be a high contrast dark theme (i.e. black panels and 
> background with white lines). This is also a barrier to entry issue 
> since at least some people with low vision first have to figure out 
> how to mannually change plot attributes before they can use the most 
> popular plotting package in R.
> 
> Thanks
> Marcus
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 5/27/23, blindrug-request at nfbnet.org <blindrug-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:
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> --
> Spotlight Editor
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> More information and useful links about using R as a blind person can be obtained at:
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> 
> Look for help using R commands by reading the accessible e-book "Let's Use R Now" compiled by Jonathan Godfrey at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html

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More information and useful links about using R as a blind person can be obtained at:
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Look for help using R commands by reading the accessible e-book "Let's Use R Now" compiled by Jonathan Godfrey at:
http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html