Yet another reminder of why access technology should not be treated as an “add-on” to other disciplines.

Orientation and Mobility Instructors and Occupational Therapists do vital work, but access technology is a specialist field in its own right. When things go wrong—and they often do—it requires the knowledge of someone who is not only a trainer, but also a qualified technician.

As an experienced access technology trainer and trained technician, I understand that troubleshooting (also known as technical remediation) is just as critical as the training itself for people who are blind or have low vision. Access technology is complex. Multiple layers of software and hardware interact, and resolving issues can take hours of methodical diagnosis, repair, and sometimes complete reinstallation.

This can involve reinstalling specialist software such as ZoomText, JAWS, and ZoomText Fusion, resolving issues with NVDA (the free screen reader), or addressing problems caused by failed updates, User Account Control settings in Microsoft Windows, or audio and display conflicts. Similar challenges can also arise on Apple devices, including Macs and iPhones. These are not issues that can be resolved without deep technical understanding.

In this video, I walk through four recent real-world troubleshooting cases:

Case One:

A person with low vision experienced a blank screen while transitioning to JAWS as their eyesight declined. They still occasionally rely on visual information, and the display unexpectedly went blank when the device was connected to power.

Cases Two and Three:

In two similar cases, learners attempted minor updates to JAWS and ZoomText Fusion between sessions. The updates failed, resulting in systems that were unusable. Resolution required several hours of work, including removing corrupted JAWS components and outdated software such as OmniPage OCR. In one case, I was able to stabilise access overnight by remotely reverting to a sandboxed installation of JAWS 2024 to get the client through the night until I was able to see them. This did not interfere with the 2025 version.

Case Four:

A totally blind user experienced complete loss of audio—just as critical as a blank screen is for a low-vision user. The issue was traced to special function keys and a disabled audio device, potentially at the BIOS level. This case provided a clear example of how access technology spans multiple layers: BIOS, operating system, and application software.
These examples clearly demonstrate why access technology should not be “lumped in” with other blindness disciplines.

Orientation and mobility and occupational therapy are essential disciplines—but access technology requires dedicated training, technical expertise, and real-world troubleshooting experience.

This video offers insight into the often unseen technical work that underpins successful access technology use—and why specialist knowledge truly matters.

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