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Re: remote desktop program question with screen reader

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From: Alan Zaitchik
Date: Aug 28, 2020 4:38PM

Also I have encountered problems with some key mappings trying to use a remote PC or a Virtual PC environment running JAWS, while I am using my MAC keyboard.
This was a few years ago so maybe things have improved.
A

> On Aug 28, 2020, at 13:24, Weston Thayer < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> Hi Tyler,
>
> No, unfortunately remote desktop protocols like RDP and VNC do not transmit
> accessibility API calls. For example, if you are on a Windows PC running
> Narrator and use the built-in Remote Desktop app to connect to another
> Windows PC, Narrator will communicate the remote connection as a "window"
> with input capture, but nothing about its contents. This is also true if
> attempting to use RDP from a Mac to connect to a PC, VoiceOver only knows
> about the window containing the remote connection.
>
> This isn't something an individual application can fix. There are a few
> options to try though:
>
> 1. Start a screen reader on the remote machine and turn off your
> local screen reader. Since all of your keyboard and mouse input is being
> sent to the remote machine, and the remote machine's audio is being sent
> back, this generally works, but lag or latency can be a major annoyance. It
> should be possible to set up physical ATs connected via USB with the remote
> computer as well via USB forwarding
> 2. Use a screen reader native remote protocol. For example NVDA has
> https://nvdaremote.com/. Your local copy of NVDA can connect to a copy
> of NVDA running on the remote computer, and forward commands and speech
> output. I believe JAWS has a similar offering. There shouldn't be much lag
> at all here, but it does require that the remote machine is pre-configured
> with NVDA
> 3. Microsoft Remote Desktop services do have a feature called RemoteApp
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Services#RemoteApp>, where
> a single remote application acts like a normal application window. This
> would only work in the PC-to-PC case, and I've never tested it, but there's
> a small chance the accessibility APIs would work (I doubt it though, since
> RDP does not support them)
>
> I think this is an area that deserves focus and innovation. I'd love to see
> more AT-native remote protocols like in option 2, maybe even cross-OS
> protocols, so that VoiceOver could remotely connect to Narrator, etc.
>
> Best,
> Weston
>
>> On Fri, Aug 28, 2020 at 9:11 AM Tyler Shepard < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>> If I use either NVDA or JAWS while navigating a computer and I need to
>> open a program that is remote on another computer will my local screen
>> reader read what is on the local remote computer?
>> If not, what fixes should i.t implement?
>> I hope to hear from you soon.
>>
>> Yours sincerly,
>> Tyler Shepard
>> >> >> >> >>
>