ChromeVOX cannot keep up with visually-challenged user's typing speed

[JW]

referring to thread:  [Problem Rollup] Chromevox still stalls when writing in long text fields  (posted in Chromebook Central)

A visually-challenged user who posts moderately frequently in Chromebook Central has posted that ChromeVOX cannot keep up with his/her (unusually fast) typing speed.  Since s/he (has previously reported that s/he) uses a 2012-era Acer C710 parrot, it is possible that CPU speed is involved.  Additionally, there might be an issue with too many processes open - but that topic has not been initiated with the user.

Since this is a difficult issue to analyze "from a distance, across the interwebs" and there is no reasonable expectation that something magical can be done to make ChromeVOX function more quickly, this is probably going to be best addressed by user-training.  ("Make certain to close all un-necessary operations prior to starting to type long essays.")  Alternately, the user could be advised as to more powerful Chromebooks that might be available since the current C710 is growing older anyway.

But despite the difficulty of anticipating some magical solution being available from the experts, the frustration the user is experiencing is worthy of escalation (imho.)

-JW

[Laura Palmaro]

Hi JW,

Definitely agree with you on your thoughts here, but we will absolutely look further into this on our team, as well. Is he saying that he wants to be able to hear the spoken feedback for each letter he types at this fast speed, or does Chromevox slow down for him in other ways? 

Thanks so much. 

- Laura 

--

Laura Palmaro

Program Manager, Chrome Accessibility 

Email: lpal...@google.com

Cell: (973) 714-2599

[JW]

Thanks so much Laura,

1) The OP (Fairy Rider=-) has not posted anything in Chromebook Central since the initial post (December 15th.)  So that complicates things since it is possible that the user has resolved the issue by concentrating on just one app at a time with that older Acer C710 (parrot) Chromebook (which has somewhat more limited crunching power.)  "User training" if on older hardware might be "a sufficient workaround."

2)  I have "bumped" that original thread to ask if Fairy Rider=- is expecting/wanting individual letter feedback when typing and to try to gain additional info about the exact nature of the complaint and the details of what might help Fairy Rider=-. (But i have not posted again about the parrot being somewhat outdated and possibly part of the reason for the issue. The reason why i avoided restating this is that i have nothing more than a hypothesis that the parrot's crunching power is a significant factor. And additionally, telling some random user to "just buy newer hardware" to achieve joy is a little like telling someone to sprout wings;  If they could, they would.)

-JW

[Laura Palmaro]

Hi JW,

Thanks for these additional details! Simply keep me posted if you happen to hear anything else from the user. 

Really appreciate you bringing this to our attention! Wishing you and everyone in this group very happy holidays! 

- Laura 

[Chris Meredith]

Greetings.

Casting aside for a moment that this is probably the first time I've ever seen "visually challenged" used in any serious context--I actually just ran into a very similar issue sending an email.  There was significant lag time between when a letter was pressed and when ChromeVox would speak.

From my side, I actually prefer to have keyboard echo disabled entirely (though I don't speak for all blind users on that point), but one problem I ran into there was that Gmail, Google Docs, etc. wouldn't respond to cursor movements unless echo was set to characters or words (not sure if this is just slow Internet on my side).  This, incidentally, is on a 2014 era Acer Chromebook (although I'm fighting a valiant struggle not to upgrade to the Pixel 2).

[Laura Palmaro]

Hi Chris,

Would you mind sharing what version of Chrome you are currently using? 

Thanks so much for the input. 

- Laura 

[JW]

Hi Laura,

Fairy Rider=- did respond to that "thread bump" that i added yesterday and provided some additional details.   (ref below)

In this new post, Fairy Rider=- provides a lot of detail that i cannot find a way to condense into anything simpler.

-JW

ref: Chromebook Central thread:   [Problem Rollup] Chromevox still stalls when writing in long text fields

On Monday, December 21, 2015 at 5:55:12 PM UTC-6, Fairy Rider=- wrote:

This is my technical analysis:

I turned off some of the apps and extensions  .    .    .   

(the new post continues on for some length;  ref link above:  "[Problem Rollup] Chromevox  .  .  .   for additional details.)

 



On Monday, December 21, 2015 at 2:00:44 PM UTC-6, Laura Palmaro wrote:

[Laura Palmaro]

Hi JW,

Thanks again for passing this additional feedback along. Just wanted to send over a quick note. We are aware that in the current version of ChromeVox, that a content editable field with lots of text does tend to cause ChromeVox to lag. This is something we are addressing in the next version of ChromeVox. Stay tuned for details about this next version and how you can try it out in a few months from now! We will be sure to keep this group posted, and look forward to your feedback on the new experience later this year. 

Hope 2016 is treating you well so far! 

- Laura 

[JW]

Hey Laura,

Thanks so much for passing on that good news !

I am wondering whether it would make sense to contact the user Fairy Rider=-  directly to ask whether she would be interested in testing since i believe (from reading through several posts) that Fairy Rider=-  types really fast and is quite thoroughly visually challenged.  Thus Fairy Rider=-  has an insight that others of us would not be able to even guess at.  (Just my humble opinion.)

But whatever you think about that suggestion, all the best in the New Year !

-JW

PS: I am blocked from emailing you directly so i m (timid-ly) posting "this opinion piece" in a public forum.

[Pete Carpenter]

Along a somewhat similar vein, how do folks feel about a change int the typing and web navigation layout of Chrome?  Specifically, wouldn't it be helpful if the size of the letters, websites, and apps most often used were dependent on use?  

Would there be privacy concerns?  In other words, would people feel comfortable allowing navigation habits and search preferences influence the layout of the (web page, keyboard, desktop, etc)?

Please send feedback.  

ps: this may have been mentioned, but I'm curious about Fairy Rider=- 's writing access (typing, voice typing?)

kind regards,

Pete Carpenter

[JW]

Hi Pete,

Your suggestion that proposes a new Accessibility Feature where most frequently-used items would be more prominently displayed sounds useful.  I know there are features in ChromeOS and AndroidOS that try to do something like this already.   But anything which makes a device easier and more intuitive to use can be very helpful.

But the way these forums are structured, it is more helpful to have such a Feature Request in its own topic thread so it is easier to find information.  So if you could start a new thread that focusses on your Feature Request, that would be great.

And also, if you are using Chrome you can send a Feature Request directly to the developers by using menu > help > report_an_issue.  That is how we send Feature Requests to the devs.  The devs learn by receiving feedback from the user community directly.

Thanks for suggesting this.

-JW

PS:  By the way, I am just one of the volunteers that try to be helpful on this forum.

[Pete Carpenter]

Got it.  Thanks JW.

Pete