Hello AppleVis Community,
I hope this post finds you all well, or at least in a better state than the latest Safari on the newest macOS update. I don't mean to sound alarmist, but it seems that the Safari "Not Responding" issue has taken a turn for the worse. So, let me ask two sarcastic questions: Is there really an accessibility team at Apple? And if there is, are they really skillful?
If you've been using macOS for a while, you've probably encountered the dreaded "Safari Not Responding" message at some point. We've all been there, patiently waiting for the spinning beach ball to stop spinning while contemplating the mysteries of the universe. It's a classic macOS experience, but it seems that with the latest update, it has become an art form.
Question 1: Is There Really an Accessibility Team at Apple?
Now, don't get me wrong. Apple has made significant strides in accessibility over the years, and we genuinely appreciate their efforts. VoiceOver and other accessibility features have made our lives easier in many ways. However, when it comes to Safari's performance, one can't help but wonder if the accessibility team is aware of the struggle.
Is there a secret room at Apple where a team of experts is tasked with making sure that VoiceOver users experience the thrill of suspense every time they open Safari? Do they gather around a table, laugh maniacally, and say, "Let's make Safari freeze just as they're about to check out that crucial webpage!"?
Question 2: Is the Team Really Skillful?
Assuming there is an accessibility team at Apple, let's delve into the second question: Are they really skillful? Now, we know that Apple employs some brilliant minds, but when it comes to Safari's recent performances, it's hard not to question their expertise.
Is it a deliberate choice to have VoiceOver users play a daily game of "Will Safari Ever Respond Again?" Or could it be that the team is simply too skilled, and they've created a Safari version that's so advanced it's beyond our understanding? Perhaps they're operating on a level of genius that we mere mortals can't comprehend, and Safari's "Not Responding" message is their way of reminding us of their technological prowess.
All sarcasm aside, we do appreciate the hard work and dedication of Apple's accessibility team. They have made great strides in improving the overall accessibility of their products. However, the recent Safari issues do highlight the need for continued focus on this critical aspect of their software.
We hope that Apple takes note of these concerns and works to address the Safari "Not Responding" problem in future updates. After all, a smooth and responsive browsing experience is something we all deserve, regardless of our abilities.
Please share your thoughts and experiences with Safari's "Not Responding" issue on the latest macOS. Let's keep the conversation going and hope for improvements in the future.
Stay patient and persistent, AppleVis community!
By Maldalain, 16 September, 2023
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Comments
I think Firefox supports…
I think Firefox supports reader view with cmd-option-r
Fun fact
I've got a friend who is totally blind like me. He's working for Apple in an office in Asia. What's interesting is that he hates using a Mac himself. He's only using an iPhone everyday, but only uses a Mac when absolutely necessary, like while at work when Apple prohibits anyone from using Windows, or when testing product's compatibility. He says Safari with Voice Over is the worst combination you can imagine. But no, he cannot do anything about it. He's assigned to working on internal products and solution used by internal teams only, and it's not even the front end either lol!
Reader view
A privacy-mindful browser which is built on Chromium, called Brave, also supports Reader View too. It does not have a shortcut assigned to by default, but this can easily be done in the Settings section.
Firefox and Google Chrome
The problem with these two browsers and here I may add Brave is that you can not select and copy text. Also Brave interface is too complicated and you have to interact with many elements to reach to the web page you want.
Reader view.
It strips out all links and adds and all that to just give you the text. I think edge has a similar thing but that's on windows.
Firefox
To my knowledge, Firefox uses the Gecko engine on all systems except iOS, where it's required to use WebKit due to Apple's ridiculous policy. I wonder how different the codebases are for VoiceOver on iOS/Safari compared to macOS/Safari? iOS doesn't exhibit any of this behavior to my knowledge.
Edge
Edge is available for macOS too. 😎
However, since I discovered a nice work-around to make the "Not Responding" bug all but go away completely, I will stick to Safari. I don't know about anyone else, but I always find weird quirks with 3rd party browsers. 🤷🏻♂️
Copying text and complicated interface on Brave
Nope, I'm using Brave very often these days, and copying text works normally for me. I'm using Voice Over running latest Mac OS 13.5 on a Mac Pro 14. You just need to press F7 to turn on the Carat Browsing mode by default — that is the mode that allows interaction with website content using the arrow keys.
Regarding its complicated interface, you can hide almost all elements that you don't want to see / interact with often. This can be done either from the Settings section, or via the Remove/Hide option from the context menu (pressing VO+Shift+M). Yes, Brave does have a relatively steep learning curve, and / or very long time required at the very start to tweak it to match it exactly to our liking. But I find it has a much better flexibility and using experience than Safari.