Mudder, A Mud client for the Mac with accessibility

Ever since the evolution of VoiceOver, blind folks have been looking for accessible Mac-based MUD clients. MUDs, because of their text-based nature, tend themselves to be very accessible. Unfortunately, due to the way that VoiceOver reads application screens and terminal windows, most Mac-based MUD clients have not made for a great solution. The main problem is that VoiceOver doesn’t read new text as it presents itself within an application window, the user may review this text, but it’s not read out automatically. In the case of terminal windows, incoming text is read, however, it is interrupted with any newer incoming text meaning that Voiceover essentially interrupts itself.

This client strives to create a balance between the need to review text and having new text auto-spoken. I’m still playing around with it, but so far, i’m finding this very promising. If you’re a Mac user and are still looking for an accessible MUD client, you may want to check this out. Confused about what MUDs actually are? There’s certainly much better information out there, but in a nutshell, they’re text-based adventure type games that allow the player to play with and interact with other people in the game. Depending on how well this client works for me, I may be writing a follow-up article in the near future.