I had that issue a few years ago when I got my new Lenovo laptop. It was not
earth shattering when my screen reader lagged a bit. Just a minor annoyance.
And I mostly used an external sound card shortly after I started using the
laptop so I haven't had the issue in years.
Merv
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2018 3:53 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Issue With Realtek Sound Drivers and Screen Readers
Hi. I was recently listening to the latest Blind Side podcast with Jonathan
Mosen, who was discussing issues he was having with the Surface Book 2.
Apparently, the device's Realtek sound drivers contain an annoying "feature"
which puts the sound card to sleep if it has remained idle for around five
seconds or more. This has a very negative impact on screen reader users
because, if your screen reader hasn't announced anything for more than a few
seconds, there is a noticeable lag when it announces something new. This has
caused annoyances to sighted computer users as well but it definitely affects
screen reader users, as you can imagine. Jonathan has reached out to Microsoft
to try to get them to solve this issue, since accessibility is very important
to them. These drivers also exist with other PCs from Dell, Lenovo and probably
others.
Realtek should just have an option in the control panel or in settings to
change or disable this timeout. In the meantime, it is reported that installing
Microsoft's generic sound card drivers should correct the issue.
Relevant Links
Installing Microsoft Sound Drivers to Replace Realtek Drivers
(Please note that, since I don't have this issue, this isn't something I've
done and so I can't answer many questions about this.
https://neosmart.net/wiki/fix-realtek-audio-delay-lag/
Here's a link to the episode of the Blind Side where Jonathan discusses this
problem.
https://mosen.org/the-blind-side-podcast-91-beginning-a-smart-home-project-why-jonathan-tried-and-returned-a-surfacebook-2-many-screen-reader-users-negatively-impacted-by-latest-realtek-drivers-listen
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
services.
To unsubscribe from this list, please email
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the
subject line.
To subscribe from another email address, send email to
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word subscribe in the subject
line.
To contact the list administrator, please email
blind-philly-comp-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
services.
To unsubscribe from this list, please email
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the
subject line.
To subscribe from another email address, send email to
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word subscribe in the subject
line.
To contact the list administrator, please email
blind-philly-comp-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
