I have complained many times in the past that the text is too small in the BOINC GUI. Why haven't you addressed this problem as yet? All text areas should be accessible to the Windows Accessibility Options. I have a bit of a vision impairment, but want to participate in the programs. You haven't fixed the Handicapped Accessibility issue yet. You fixed the GUI so it now works (at least so for), as I have only been running BOINC 5.10.13 for a few days. I stopped running BOINC because I couldn't get it to run properly on my system, and because of the accessibility issue. I still have the Accessibility issue, but am trying to continue for a while longer with the newer GUI version to see if you make a fix for the problems noted in this message. It's been a while I haven't participated. I have a slower computer still 600Mhz Pentium 3. It's more stable thus far than any of the previous GUI's. The second problem I mentioned is the GUI doesn't stay sized as set in earlier Win sessions. When I close Windows ( I have the Microsoft WinXP-SP2 Pro. The 32-bit version), and on the next time I open Win again the GUI is collapsed. Why does this happen, and is there a way to stop it from doing that? Thank You in Advance for Your Assist in Fixing These Herein Mentioned Problems.

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Have you tried the accessible view of the advanced manager? If you're in the simple GUI then click on the button for the advanced GUI and select the accessible view from the view pull down menu.

The failure of the GUI to stay resized is a known bug. Selecting file-exit seems to help some.

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Kathryn :o)

Hi. James here. Yep I tried the Accessible View Option in the GUI, but It is only for those running programs aiding in Accessibility, and I don't know if that even works. It doesn't work with Windows Accessibility Options the way MSIExplorer does. What about those who don't have them. They are not cheap to buy, and cause a slow down ( Use much system resources). I have such a program "Zoom Text 8.1x" (their newer version won't run on my machine. It's not designed with older machines in consideration), but don't use it as it brings my computer almost to a stand still. I have a slower PC with a 600Mhz Pentium 3 Processor, and am trying to upgrade my computer, but I can't afford the change as yet.

Have you tried the accessible view of the advanced manager? If you're in the simple GUI then click on the button for the advanced GUI and select the accessible view from the view pull down menu.

The failure of the GUI to stay resized is a known bug. Selecting file-exit seems to help some.

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Hi James

Mo here from CPDN. I agree that the matter of text size within the boinc manager can a problem. I will be asking other people who are more technically competent than me whether we should request such a feature in a boinc Trac ticket.

I contacted one of our CPDN members who used to have a visual impairment to ask him how he managed then. He replied

Yes that has always been a problem and there is no short solution. The only way it can be fixed would be for the Boinc team to do a complete rewrite using a different set of GUI tools (the likelihood that that will happen is nil, I think they are using WxGTK for the GUI which is cross-platform). The only thing that I can offer is for the gentleman to either use the "Magnifier" tool located under "Programs/Accessories/Accessibility", or, use a third party program that offers the same functionality as "Boinc Manager", but specifically written using standard "MS Windows" GUI tools.

I asked Thyme Lawn who's a cpdn moderator for his opinion on those suggestions before I posted here. Thyme replied

It seems fine to me, with one minor change. BOINC uses wxWidgets (but GTK does underlie that for Linux and MacOS).

As far as monitoring goes, the only third party tool I've used is BoincView. I tried setting Windows to use large fonts and the information grid stayed at the original size. I've not tried any of the web applications listed at the bottom of the BOINC add-ons page, but BoincPHP5-GUI or Boinc LCS might be worth investigation.

I don't think Boinc LCS would be worth trying because you would need a webserver.

I tried using the Windows magnifier tool available in XP. Have you tried it? It wasn't the most convenient tool I've ever used.

* I could only magnify x2 because x3 or greater began to break up the letters and numbers. But even x2 actually made everything appear 4 times larger.

* The magnified version only occupied the top half of the screen and I couldn't find any way to use the full screen for the magnified view. If it, or some similar utility, could be used full-screen it would be pretty good.


Have you seen the Windows help page about accessibility?

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/

To tell the truth, the only simple solution they seem able to offer that you don't have to pay for is to decrease the pixel resolution of your screen. They say this will make the letters SEEM larger. I haven't tried this out yet.

Mo

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Any opinions about the content of a possible Trac ticket would be welcome here.

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From ticket 147:

Comment by Rom Walton;
"I have modified the manager so that if it detects a screen reader it'll automatically change to the Advanced GUI list view which is accessibility enabled.

We have a work item for 6.0 to make the Simple GUI accessible."

In any case, I can reopen the ticket and you can add to it. Just say when.

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Thanks for the Trac link which I wasn't aware of. From that ticket it looks as if Rom has already implemented this (in 5.10.20 or waiting for v.6?). In which case I don't think I could add anything extra. Rom has chosen the solution of enabling the use of screen readers rather than making a new option to enlarge the font size within boinc manager.

Rom's solution doesn't help James though because his computer seems too old/not powerful enough to run a screen reader program. I wonder whether the real problem when James uses his ZoomText program, which slows the computer almost to a standstill, might not be the limited 600MHz CPU but too little RAM? It might be worth investigating how much RAM the computer currently has and whether it could support more. An extra memory card isn't very expensive and slotting it in can be a do-it-yourself job at home, perhaps done by a friend.

On the other hand, if the problem is the computer's limited graphics capability, adding RAM might not help. James, it might be worth comparing your ZOOMText's minimum requirements with what your computer has.

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Hi> Thanks for the suggestion, but I have good system ram to the extent of having 1GIG of 133Mhz RAM. I can go to 2GIG, but It'll cost more than the computer would cost to replace. The problem is the slow Pentium 3 processor @ 600Mhz. I have a good graphics card: ATI9550 with 256Meg DDR RAM on the card. Nope you almost got it. I checked it out. I have been upgrading where possible but I can't afford to make any more upgrades to this machine due to limited disability income, and the fact that this machine is having a slow processor as noted earlier, and it would cost more than I can afford to upgrade any further as they for example are not making my RAM any more. So it's not cheap anymore. I have asked my friends if any had a newer more update machine than mine that they were giving away. Even if it was the basic parts like motherboard processor, and RAM to begin with. All of these items would have to come together with the case, and power supply, and I could build from there with hardware I presently have. I received a newer machine from a friend which had a bad motherboard. Another friend gave me a laptop that is as slow as my desktop, and it has only 256Meg RAM not upgradable, and it's monitor screen is only 2/3 usable. It's battery is no good and would cost more than the laptop computer is worth. So, I'm right back where I started. That's as far as I've gotten. I would appreciate if the builders of BOINC would add an option that would make all text in the BOUNC GUI larger as needed for those who need it. I must congratulate the builders for finally making a functional BOINC GUI that works so far without a hitch. One additional note! I have a screen Reader "Zoom Text Reader Magnifier 8.1x. Their newest version won't run on my computer it's resource requirements are to large for my computer, and even if it weren't, It's to costly to purchase. I'd buy a new computer first. Thanks for Your Assist. Were almost there. If they keep the resource requirement down I will still be able to participate in some of the programs. Thanks Again.

Thanks for the Trac link which I wasn't aware of. From that ticket it looks as if Rom has already implemented this (in 5.10.20 or waiting for v.6?). In which case I don't think I could add anything extra. Rom has chosen the solution of enabling the use of screen readers rather than making a new option to enlarge the font size within BOINC manager.

Rom's solution doesn't help James though because his computer seems too old/not powerful enough to run a screen reader program. I wonder whether the real problem when James uses his ZoomText program, which slows the computer almost to a standstill, might not be the limited 600MHz CPU but too little RAM? It might be worth investigating how much RAM the computer currently has and whether it could support more. An extra memory card isn't very expensive and slotting it in can be a do-it-yourself job at home, perhaps done by a friend.

On the other hand, if the problem is the computer's limited graphics capability, adding RAM might not help. James, it might be worth comparing your ZOOM Text's minimum requirements with what your computer has.

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Thanks, but as I stated earlier in another post this won't fix my problem. The screen reader requires a processor of about 300-400Mhz minimum. I believe it's 400Mhz. BOINC if I remember correctly is another 200Mhz plus. That's 600Mhz. If I run both at the same time my computer won't run. That's with my security, and other items normally running as needed by Windows for security, and assisted functions where needed. Mainly security, as I as far as the computer is concerned have only a visual impairment, and I use a Trackball instead of a mouse. Please add an option so I can adjust the all text sizes (as needed) used in the BOINC GUI. Why doesn't the GUI work with the Accessibility settings on my computer. The text size could be set by my MSIE browser settings as are some of my software presently do. Thanks Again.

From ticket 147:

Comment by Rom Walton;
"I have modified the manager so that if it detects a screen reader it'll automatically change to the Advanced GUI list view which is accessibility enabled.

We have a work item for 6.0 to make the Simple GUI accessible."

In any case, I can reopen the ticket and you can add to it. Just say when.

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Hi. James here again. I have a possible solution. You say it would be an unlikelihood of a complete rewrite of the BOINC GUI to add the needed option to make larger text possible in the GUI. What if you just changed the text sizes used in the GUI to say a point or two sizes larger from the get go. Then it wouldn't be so bad. As for the Simple View of the present GUI. It's text is clearer. It could be a full point size larger also. You wouldn't have to do a complete rewrite to do this would you? That would help many users wouldn't it? It would help me some. Thanks for Your Assist. Keep up the Good Work. So far the version 5.10.13 GUI is working fine. With the exception of the small text making it hard to read.

Hi James

Mo here from CPDN. I agree that the matter of text size within the BOINC manager can a problem. I will be asking other people who are more technically competent than me whether we should request such a feature in a BOINC Trac ticket.

I contacted one of our CPDN members who used to have a visual impairment to ask him how he managed then. He replied

Yes that has always been a problem and there is no short solution. The only way it can be fixed would be for the BOINC team to do a complete rewrite using a different set of GUI tools (the likelihood that that will happen is nil, I think they are using WxGTK for the GUI which is cross-platform). The only thing that I can offer is for the gentleman to either use the "Magnifier" tool located under "Programs/Accessories/Accessibility", or, use a third party program that offers the same functionality as "BOINC Manager", but specifically written using standard "MS Windows" GUI tools.

I asked Thyme Lawn who's a cpdn moderator for his opinion on those suggestions before I posted here. Thyme replied

It seems fine to me, with one minor change. BOINC uses wxWidgets (but GTK does underlie that for Linux and MacOS).

As far as monitoring goes, the only third party tool I've used is BoincView. I tried setting Windows to use large fonts and the information grid stayed at the original size. I've not tried any of the web applications listed at the bottom of the BOINC add-ons page, but BoincPHP5-GUI or Boinc LCS might be worth investigation.

I don't think Boinc LCS would be worth trying because you would need a webserver.

I tried using the Windows magnifier tool available in XP. Have you tried it? It wasn't the most convenient tool I've ever used.

* I could only magnify x2 because x3 or greater began to break up the letters and numbers. But even x2 actually made everything appear 4 times larger.

* The magnified version only occupied the top half of the screen and I couldn't find any way to use the full screen for the magnified view. If it, or some similar utility, could be used full-screen it would be pretty good.


Have you seen the Windows help page about accessibility?

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/

To tell the truth, the only simple solution they seem able to offer that you don't have to pay for is to decrease the pixel resolution of your screen. They say this will make the letters SEEM larger. I haven't tried this out yet.

Mo

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James, does the Windows magnifier tool work for you when you're looking at the boinc manager? I think it's supposed to work for anything at all that shows on the screen. I know it's not the best tool in the world because you get a split screen (magnified and unmagnified), but I have XP and I could use it to look at the boinc manager.

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I have reopened Trac ticket 147.

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My Reply starts here: Thanks for asking, but I don't like the results from using the Windows Magnifier, as it doesn't work in all "all" areas of the BOINC GUI, and it doesn't work in the flash screen saver display. What's the problem with making the BOINC program to be "FULLY HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE"? Many have complained of the small text. Not just me, and the BOINC people are not going all the way. They are designing the program so that eventually all of us people that are unfortunate of having slower computers will not be able to participate in the BOINC programs. I know it will take some work to fix the small text problems in the BOINC GUI, but the BOINC builder people have no excuse. They keep coming out with new GUI's. This one is the only one of the BOINC GUI's that I have so far had none, or minimal problems, and I still have the small text problem. BOINC has been around long enough to have not only created a fully functional, and backwards compatible GUI that's FULLY HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE. If you make the text in all areas of the BOINC at least one point size larger. That'll make a big difference. 2 Points larger for the smaller text. The present GUI is as I stated to the best of my knowledge the best GUI so far. It at least works for me. With the exception of the small text problem. Thanks BOINC for doing good with the latest 5.10.13 GUI. Please fix the text size problem in the next GUI. If you make the GUI to work as this one is, and fix the text problem. I think you'll finally have it made.

James, does the Windows magnifier tool work for you when you're looking at the BOINC manager? I think it's supposed to work for anything at all that shows on the screen. I know it's not the best tool in the world because you get a split screen (magnified and unmagnified), but I have XP and I could use it to look at the BOINC manager.

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Hi. James here again. What's A Trac ticket, and how is it going to work for me as per the problems I have noted in earlier posts in this thread? Basically, How do I use Trac tickets? I don't understand your post otherwise. You say that's what you asked for in the Trac. What did you ask for in the created Trac ticket? Where's the link please? Thank you for your time.

That's what I asked for in the Trac ticket and I included a link to this thread. You can if you wish create a Trac account and add your comments to the Trac ticket I reopened.

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Hi. James here again. What's A Trac ticket, and how is it going to work for me as per the problems I have noted in earlier posts in this thread? Basically, How do I use Trac tickets? I don't understand your post otherwise. You say that's what you asked for in the Trac. What did you ask for in the created Trac ticket? Where's the link please? Thank you for your time.

Trac is Berkeley's storage system for bugs reports, feature requests, client/server code and documentation.

What Mo did was reopen a ticket that was closed.

It's here...

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/ticket/147

If you register for the Trac system here...

https://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/register

(all you need is a user name and password, email is optional), then you can add your experiences using the manager to the ticket Mo reopened.

In my heart, I believe the developers are willing to try to work with those who use accessibility software. When the new grid based interface was introduced, it was brought to the developers' attention that the interface didn't work with screen readers. That problem was rectified by making the old style manager an option as an "accessible view".

Hope this helps.

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Kathryn :o)

Hi. Why not make BOINC's GUI to be text size addressable as per the users WindowsXP-SP2 Pro (32-bit), or other Win O/S's, so the BOINC GUI would change text , and graphic size in reference to the Windows settings of the user? Thus all would be easily able to read the GUI, and Graphic screens. A lot of companies haven't yet fixed there programs to allow for user setting VIA Windows settings in the Graphics Display Properties to re-size the GUI text, and pictures as per the Windows settings. I keep telling those companies they need to make there programs FULLY HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE. That also means Accessible for those who have older systems like mine, and to work with vision impairment. I have, but don't actively run my screen reader/magnifier as it uses too much CPU resources. I don't see an excuse for not complying. I know it will take some work to make it all work. You finally created in BOINC 5.10.13 a GUI that works, so far with no problems. All you need to do now is update to give Full Accessibility to the user. You need to remember that some of your users still have older machines, and make the GUI so it will be addressable to the needs of the user so they can have continued participation in the BOINC projects. Thank You for listening, and I hope you can make the needed fixes to your BOINC GUI.

[quote]Hi. James here again. What's A Trac ticket, and how is it going to work for me as per the problems I have noted in earlier posts in this thread? Basically, How do I use Trac tickets? I don't understand your post otherwise. You say that's what you asked for in the Trac. What did you ask for in the created Trac ticket? Where's the link please? Thank you for your time.

Trac is Berkeley's storage system for bugs reports, feature requests, client/server code and documentation.

What Mo did was reopen a ticket that was closed.

It's here...

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/ticket/147

If you register for the Trac system here...

https://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/register

(all you need is a user name and password, email is optional), then you can add your experiences using the manager to the ticket Mo reopened.

In my heart, I believe the developers are willing to try to work with those who use accessibility software. When the new grid based interface was introduced, it was brought to the developers' attention that the interface didn't work with screen readers. That problem was rectified by making the old style manager an option as an "accessible view".

Hope this helps.

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I don't think it's very helpful for the developers to have to read arguments for and against proposals actually in the Trac ticket posts, though it's sometimes unavoidable. That's why I'm inviting comments here.

I think that's what ticket comments are for. I have seen other projects using Trac reaching hundreds of comments on tickets requesting somewhat-controversial features.