- Blind-sysadmins - lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Testing with new OS upgrade
by Andrew Hodgson 08 Sep '26

08 Sep '26

Hi. Migrated to Ubuntu 26.04 and the Debian mailman packages as they now seem to be on the same version of Mailman as I came from previously which means a bit less effort for maintain the system. Also migrated to Postfix as we can do the configuration of the whole system in around 10 Postconf commands which is easy to script. Hoping everything working ok. Thanks. Andrew.

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VSCode usability on Mac OS
by Darragh Ó Héiligh 27 Jul '26

27 Jul '26

Sorry for the flurry of messages today. Are any of you using VSCode on Mac OS? I'm not a native VoiceOver user. But am I missing something? The additional verbiage in the editor is a real problem! I would be very eager to hear the experiences of others.

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Azure portal. Search box behaviour has changed and is no longer accessible.
by Darragh Ó Héiligh 27 Jul '26

27 Jul '26

Hello, Using Jaws with Edge. Since Monday, two weeks ago, the search interface within the Azure portal has changed. Previously, after typing something like "PIM" you would press enter, past the tabs to the search results and Jaws would read everything properly. Now, if you press tab, focus changes to the next control. This is actually the more conventional behaviour. Instead, when you type something, you press the down arrow to set focus to the search results view. Jaws does indeed speak this but it doesn't speak the search results. I have submitted this issue to the enterprise accessibility support desk. But: 1. They Emailed a week later with a message that was written from the perspective of someone who clearly hadn't read my problem description properly 2. They didn't reproduce the problem. I Emailed in response right away but haven't received a reply. I'm assuming anyone here who uses the Azure UI can reproduce this. If so, would you mind adding your voice to my support request please by submitting a request of your own? Previously, I had a great technical account manager. But in the past year, Microsoft have changed my rep twice and my business manager has also changed and the new person has a lot more responsibilities so she isn't quite as engaged or as experienced. So I am struggling to get the proper attention to this within Microsoft. Thanks

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FW: ANNOUNCEMENT! Changes to submitting new support requests to the enterprise Disability Answer Desk (eDAD)
by Andrew Hodgson 27 Jul '26

27 Jul '26

Hi. Just got this in. I haven’t tried the new portal yet, hope they will still allow ticket creation from our personal personas without being attached to a work profile. Andrew. From: enterprise Disability Answer Desk <edad(a)microsoft.com> Sent: 03 March 2026 21:26 To: Andrew Hodgson <andrew(a)hodgson.io> Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT! Changes to submitting new support requests to the enterprise Disability Answer Desk (eDAD) ANNOUNCEMENT! Changes to submitting new support requests to the enterprise Disability Answer Desk (eDAD) Hello, As someone who has created an eDAD case in the last year, we are excited to share with you that the enterprise Disability Answer Desk (eDAD) has now onboarded to Dynamics for Microsoft, Microsoft’s global case management tool for commercial customer support. This enhanced experience includes immediate case creation and self-serve case status via an online portal called Services Hub. We invite you to explore our new case creation process, visit the updated eDAD site, and set up your services Hub profile today. 1. Create or confirm your profile in Services Hub<https://support.serviceshub.microsoft.com/supportforbusiness>. IMPORTANT This is a one time step and customers always need to return to aka.ms/eDAD<https://aka.ms/eDAD> to submit a case. 2. Watch the quick video on How to submit an eDAD case<https://aka.ms/eDAD>. 3. Go to https://aka.ms/eDAD to submit new accessibility support requests. Frequently Asked Questions Why is eDAD onboarding to Dynamics for Microsoft? As eDAD has scaled, our legacy way of supporting our customers is no longer sufficient to support the requirements of our business. To continue providing the best support experience, eDAD transitioned to Dynamics for Microsoft, giving you a more empowering accessibility support experience with immediate case creation and real-time status tracking. Is eDAD getting rid of email support? No, while customers will no longer submit a new request in email, immediately after you create a new case in Services Hub for eDAD, you will receive an automated email response to your preferred contacts. Communication from your assigned support engineer will also be sent via email. You can reply at any time to the email thread. Why is eDAD transitioning away from email case creation? Email‑based systems caused delays, lost cases, and poor follow‑up. Dynamics provides real‑time tracking and better reliability. How can I add additional contacts for awareness? During the case creation, you have the option to “Add a new Contact” and you can add multiple email addresses. Type in any email address including your own team’s distribution list for awareness. Where should customers go to submit new accessibility support cases? Customers should submit all new accessibility support cases through Services Hub using the Support for Business intake form. This is the official and required entry point for eDAD cases. Customers can begin by visiting: aka.ms/eDAD <https://aka.ms/eDAD> and watching the quick video on How to submit an eDAD case<https://aka.ms/eDAD>. How do customers track case status? After submitting a case, customers receive a confirmation email with a case number. Submitters can view case status, updates, and closure notes directly in Services Hub. Email notifications are also sent for major status changes. Can customers still email eDAD(a)microsoft.com to open a case? Email is no longer the primary intake method. Messages sent to eDAD(a)microsoft.com will receive an automated response directing users to submit cases through Services Hub. What happens if multiple issues are submitted in a single request? Each distinct accessibility issue must be submitted and tracked as its own case. Customers should open separate cases for each issue to ensure proper routing, prioritization, and resolution. If multiple issues are included in a single submission, eDAD will guide the customer to submit separate cases rather than creating cases on the customer’s behalf. Customers should expect to receive a unique case number for each issue they submit. Will the support experience or response times change with the new platform? The core support experience remains unchanged. However, the new platform introduces improvements such as immediate case creation through an online intake form and self‑serve case tracking. What happens to cases submitted before the transition? Cases submitted prior to the platform transition will continue to be worked in the existing system until they are resolved. These cases will not move into the new platform. Thank you. enterprise Disability Answer Desk Microsoft respects your privacy. Review our online Privacy Statement <https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement> . To create a new case, visit: https://aka.ms/eDAD To check the status of your case, visit: Services Hub <https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/enterprise-answer-desk> (Manage tab) For more information, please check out our site: https://aka.ms/eDAD/ <https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/enterprise-answer-desk>

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Hanheld devices like GPD
by Can Kırca 12 Apr '26

12 Apr '26

Hi, Does anyone know handheld devices like GPD Micropc2? Looking a portable, battery powered device to carry. I saw win mini2025 and Micropc2 on Amazon but not sure for the model. Your recommendation would be welcome. Warm regards.

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New device from Bristol Braille.
by Chris T 25 Mar '26

25 Mar '26

Hi all. I hope this is OK to share. TO declare personal interest, I’ve been working freelance for Bristol Braille for a few months. We’re about to launch a new product called the Canute Scientific., which I think is relevant to sys admins, technologists, developers, anyone working or studying in STEM fields. Basically it’s a stand alone multi line Braille workstation running Linux with a suite of custom applications for viewing and manipulating various forms of data. I don’t want to make this a sales pitch thing as I’m sharing because I think it’s relevant. You can find out all the specs and prelaunch pricing in the online brochure. https://bristol-braille-website-8ad67c.gitlab.io/canute-scientific-pre-laun… Any questions feel free to contact me on my work email at: enquiries(a)bristolbraille.org Cheers. Chris.

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Ticket systems
by Eigeldinger Simon 17 Mar '26

17 Mar '26

Hi all, It's about support ticket systems again. At the moment we are using a very old osticket version. This is pretty accessible and is also productive and quick in usage. Unfortunately osticket has changed their interface so i would be a lot slower in using it. I tried the demo on https://osticket.com.de/demo/scp/ though it got a bit better over the last months. We are also switching over to Microsoft 365, that's why we can't use our old version and the server needs a upgrade as well. For those who use a ticket system at the moment, which one are you using? Can you recommend one? If you are using a recent version of osticket, can you recommend some settings/tricks? Greetings, Simon

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FW: TAVIP Career Talk: Succeeding in the Tech Sector with Andrew Hodgson. Wednesday 18th March at 7.30pm
by Andrew Hodgson 05 Mar '26

05 Mar '26

Hi. Sorry for blowing my own trumpet but I'm giving a career talk in a couple of weeks and thought people on this list might be interested. Thanks. Andrew. From: TAVIP <info(a)tavip.org.uk> Sent: 05 March 2026 12:26 To: TAVIP <info(a)tavip.org.uk> Subject: TAVIP Career Talk: Succeeding in the Tech Sector with Andrew Hodgson. Wednesday 18th March at 7.30pm Dear all, I am delighted to invite you to our next TAVIP Career Talk with Andrew Hodgson which will be on Wednesday 18th March at 7.30pm. Many of you may already know Andrew as an active contributor to the TAVIP discussion list, and as a former Chair of Trustees at TAVIP. Andrew says "for those who don't know me, I am a blind IT professional who has worked for over 20 years as a systems and platform engineer in various industries including financial services, retail and energy. Outside of work, I can usually be found in a bell tower ringing for a church service or wedding. During the Talk, Andrew will be sharing the story of how his career developed and how he feels about working as a blind person. Andrew will also be sharing some insights for anyone who is interested in starting out or looking at options in the technology industry, covering topics such as practical things you can do to help prepare for and talk about during interview, his experience of face to face and online interviews, pros and cons of jobs in and outside of London, his thoughts on screen readers and his approach to using audio and braille for work, and the value of simplicity and keeping things under your control when choosing tools for programming. The session is being hosted by TAVIP's current Chair of Trustees, Tony Stockman. Tony has over 40 years' experience of using various forms of assistive technology to study and work in education and industry as a visually impaired person. Much of his research as a university lecturer was in the area of Human-Computer Interaction, often with a specific focus on accessibility for visually impaired people, ranging from access to spreadsheets through to improving interfaces for visually impaired audio engineers. So do join us for what will be a really interesting, insightful and thought-provoking discussion. Do feel free to share this link with others who might be interested. As usual, the zoom details for the Masterclass are as follows: If you are already logged in you can enter our ID 2222 397 064, or Connect to the TAVIP Zoom Room by clicking or tapping this link<https://zoom.us/j/2222397064>. If you'd prefer, you can dial in on 0203 695 0088 and enter our meeting ID 2222 397 064. You don't need to enter a participant ID. See you there. Julian. Julian Garner. TAVIP Chief Executive -- TAVIP. Technology Association of Visually impaired People (TAVIP) Technology Association of Visually Impaired People is a charity registered in Scotland (SC023234) and a company limited by guarantee (SC155406). Registered office c/o Lindsays LLP, Caledonian Exchange, 19a Canning Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8HE.

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What do you recommend for password manager instead of 1password?
by Can Kırca 05 Mar '26

05 Mar '26

Hi, Using 1Password for years. I learned that they would update their prices soon. What do you recommend going with? Security and accessibility are the main point like all of us. Best.

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86Box
by John G. Heim 01 Mar '26

01 Mar '26

I know this is a long shot but does anybody know anything about 86Box? Someone asked me to see if my RPItalk hardware synth (a LiteTalk/DECtalk emulator made from a Raspberry Pi) would work with Jaws for DOS. But apparently, Jaws for DOS needs an old AT keyboard. A USB or even a PS/2 keyboard doesn't work. So I found this virtualization package, 86Box that supports very old hardware. But I cannot get the GUI interface to work with Orca. Specifically, I cannot configure a 3.5" floppy so I cannot install FreeDOS. The interface is simply not lettimg me change the default configuration of dual 5.225" floppies. Nothing I click on does anything. I can change everything else -- mobo, RAM, serial ports, etc. Just not the floppy drives.

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