[BlindRUG] VS Code setup for screen readers

Sat Sep 28 19:52:52 UTC 2024

Hi Robin,

Thank you so much for giving me tons of good information. I used to code
using Emacs, but giving that I have to teach R and stats, I quit using it.
But I do prefer Emacs.

I'll follow your recommendations and test if I can teach a similar workflow
to my student.

I apologize for taking so long to reply, my duties at work were intense
these past weeks.

Thanks again for your help.

On Tue, Sep 24, 2024, 1:35 AM Robin Williams via BlindRUG <
blindrug at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi Esteban,
>
>
>
> Thanks for reaching out with this important question, and apologies for my
> slow response.
>
>
>
> I am not a teacher, rather, I am a statistician working in industry. I am
> increasingly using VSCode, both for writing and running R code, however, it
> is not yet my primary environment. The reasons for that are part legacy, in
> that I have used Emacs with Emacs Speaks Statistics for almost 15 years
> now, as well as a couple shortcomings of VSCode which I would like
> addressed before I make the full switch. With that said, I would not
> recommend Emacs as a suitable environment for an undergraduate student.
> VSCode, on the other hand, has a learning curve that is less steep, in my
> opinion.
>
> As well as running R code, I also use VSCode to write and compile C++, and
> to interact with Git. This is another appeal – it’s very nice as a blind
> person to have one tool that allows you to accomplish so much.
>
>
>
> The only extensions relating to R that I currently have installed are ‘R’
> and ‘R Debugger’.
>
>
>
> A brief summary of my workflow in VSCode is as follows.
>
>    - Make heavy use of the command pallet – ctrl+shift+p, and the
>    settings editor ctrl+,
>    - To run an R session, once the above extensions are installed, launch
>    a terminal session with the R profile, using the aforementioned command
>    pallet.
>    - Open, or create, an R script in the editor.
>    - Within the editor, to run the current line of code and have the
>    cursor move to the next line, press ctrl+enter. To maintain the current
>    cursor position, press alt+enter.
>    - To run a block of code, select it using the anchor commands. Place
>    the cursor at the start of the block, and hit ctrl+k followed by ctrl+b.
>    Move the cursor to the end of the block, and hit ctrl+k twice. Then use
>    either ctrl+enter or alt+enter to run the selected block.
>    - Enjoy all the autocompletion and code suggestions while writing new
>    code. I sometimes find these a bit verbose, and you can turn it off
>    altogether if you wish.
>
>
>
> A few comments on interacting with the terminal, which we launched at the
> beginning.
>
>    - Microsoft have implemented an accessibility buffer, which enables a
>    screen reader user to inspect the terminal output. To get there, run the
>    command Focus Terminal View, which I have assigned to a keyboard shortcut
>    (ctrl+shift+t). However, if the terminal is already open, I believe you can
>    also use ctrl+’. Then hit alt+f2, and you will be placed in the
>    accessibility view. This acts as a read only edit field, which means you
>    can copy from it.To get back to the terminal, I typically jump to the
>    bottom of the accessibility view (ctrl+end), and then ctrl+down arrow moves
>    back to the terminal.
>    - You can type and run commands in the terminal, use autocomplete and
>    so on. However, what you can not currently do very easily is to scroll
>    through the command history, edit a historical command, and rerun it.
>    Therefore, if there are temporary commands to be run that aren’t required
>    as part of a final script, I advise to have a second script open in the
>    editor area, and run commands from there instead.
>
>
>
> The settings are very customisable. Below is an extract from my
> settings.json, which you can find by searching for settings in the command
> pallet. If you search the settings (ctrl+,) for accessibility, you will see
> the variety of accessibility-related customisations that can be made.
>
>
>
> {
>
>     "workbench.startupEditor": "none",
>
>     "window.menuBarVisibility": "compact",
>
>     "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "R Terminal",
>
>     "r.source.focus": "none",
>
>     "r.plot.useHttpgd": true,
>
>     "r.bracketedPaste": true,
>
>     "r.sessionWatcher": true,
>
>     "r.alwaysUseActiveTerminal": true,
>
>     "r.plot.defaults.fullWindowMode": true,
>
>     "terminal.integrated.accessibleViewPreserveCursorPosition": true,
>
>     "accessibility.signals.save": {
>
>         "announcement": "never"
>
>     },
>
>     "editor.tabSize": 2,
>
>     "accessibility.verbosity.terminal": false,
>
> }
>
>
>
> Please let me know if I can help further, either on or off list.
>
>
>
> Bests,
>
> Robin
>
>
>
> *From:* BlindRUG <blindrug-bounces at nfbnet.org> *On Behalf Of *Esteban
> Montenegro via BlindRUG
> *Sent:* 16 September 2024 18:54
> *To:* blindrug at nfbnet.org
> *Cc:* Esteban Montenegro <estebanmonte at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* [BlindRUG] VS Code setup for screen readers
>
>
>
> Greetings list members,
>
>
>
> I'm Esteban, I'm a faculty member at California State University,
> Stanislaus. Currently, I'm preparing materials to make my lectures and
> teaching method more accessible for screen readers. I teach
> statistics using R and RStudio, but I know RStudio is not friendly with
> screen readers.
>
>
>
> As an alternative, I've been thinking to use VS Code to teach R, does any
> person in this list have attempted to use VS Code for teaching R? Do you
> use VS Code with screen readers? If so, would you share with me your setup
> and possible add-ons for VS Code?
>
>
>
> Finally, any recommendations on how to teach R and screen readers are
> always welcomed!
>
>
>
> Have a great week!
>
>
>
> -------------
>
> *Esteban Montenegro-Montenegro, PhD.*
>
> *Assistant Professor*
>
> *Psychology and Child Development*
>
> *California State University, Stanislaus*
>
> *Stockton Campus*
>
> 612 E Magnolia St, Stockton, CA 95202
> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/612+E+Magnolia+St,+Stockton,+CA+95202?entry=gmail&source=g>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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> More information and useful links about using R as a blind person can be
> obtained at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz
>
> 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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