TeamViewer and Screen Readers: The Blind Left Out in the Cold

JLove

I am a totally blind user of computers for the last several decades. Currently, I use Jaws for Windows (latest version) and NVDA (latest version), which are two screen readers. In previous versions of TeamViewer, we were able to get our ID and password to allow for remote assistance. However, in later versions, we could no longer access ID or password easily, being forced to use special features of the screen readers to get around the poor access to the UI, and as of 15.53.7, it appears we cannot access the password at all, even with the screen reader work-arounds. In another thread a couple of years ago, someone from the TV community wrote that changes to the UI had been made, and that screen reader fixes would be coming next to reinstate accessibility. However, accessibility has gotten worse, not better, over the last several updates. Now, without the ability to even retrieve the password to allow for remote access, TV is not just inaccessible, it's unusable to us. This is unacceptable, quite frankly. It astounds me how quickly companies change their UI, and never once do they give thought to whether their application is accessible to screen reading software. And yet, screen readers have been around for decades, and Microsoft has even published development articles on making Windows apps accessible to them. Here, it's even worse, since TV is an app that specifically allowed blind people to get help when they needed it through remote access, and now, that ability is just gone. It's 2024, and despite massive strides in accessibility and disability awareness, blind people and their access to the same apps that everyone else can use is still considered as an afterthought, or even worse, mostly not considered at all. Some things never change, I guess.

Ying_Q

Hi @JLove,

Thank you so much for posting in the Community! We value your feedback and exprience about Accessibility on TeamViewer.

We would like to forward the feedback and use case to the internal team for investigation and improvement. At the same time, which user interface of TeamViewer you are currently using? Simply share a screenshot of TeamViewer from your computer and we can help to confirm.

Hope to hear from you shortly!

Best,

Ying_Q