iBUG Mac-N-Talk

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May 2026

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About the show

Are you thinking about getting a Mac? Are you wondering if you will be able to learn the accessibility features of the Mac operating system on your own? Do you have issues or questions about using your Mac? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then this free iBUG Mac-N-Talk training session on the accessibility features of the Mac OS and hardware is the place for you. iBUG Mac-N-Talk is facilitated by advanced iBUG member, Chanelle Allen. Recorded live on the fourth Tuesday of the month, 7:00 to 8:30 PM Central Time.

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50 recent

May 28, 20261 hr 28 min

Episode #81 May 27, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: troubleshooting Mac and printer connection problems; difficulty finding buttons for screen sharing with Apple accessibility; how to turn off mouse pointer and Trackpad when using VoiceOver; how to make sure the mouse cursor is out of the way; can you mirror your iPhone to the Mac; anything comparable to Keyboard Help for learning Mac commands; can you get a Mac without a touch bar; is Boot camp still supported on Macs; music producing apps that work well on the Mac; best environment or tasks for using the Mac; what does "Desktop" mean in Notification settings; can you use the iPhone on your Mac as a webcam; process for clearing all notifications; Num Lock key on external keyboard goes to the Dock.

April 29, 20261 hr 30 min

Episode #80 April 28, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: what to look for when purchasing an external drive; thumb drive where Windows files were copied is read only on Mac; when to use VO-Space versus Enter; keyboard command alternatives to VoiceOver commands for accessing the shortcut menu; can VO-Shift- K always stay on; what is VO; can keyboard shortcuts replace VoiceOver; sometimes Caps lock doesn't work for VO commands; How can you use a keyboard without a function key; does command- k work on the Mac to create a link; differentiating between letters in commands and how to activate commands that use the same letter twice; how to prevent Caps lock from being activated when doing VoiceOver commands; does key repeat apply only to letters or modifiers as well; examples of useful Numpad commands; problems editing in Pages after the latest Pages update; how to get started learning the Mac; can you change an old Intel-based Mac to a Linux configuration; Card World app made by developers of Dice World works well on the Mac; how to play games on the Mac; how to screen record on Mac using Zoom.

March 25, 20261 hr 33 min

Episode #79 March 24, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: How to easily jump through and use the Mac Podcasts app; how accessible is navigating around Garage Band for recording a presentation; is there a VO shortcut to shut down the Mac; tricks for shutting down and starting up your Mac; what are thoughts on the necessity of shutting down the Mac; how to download a playlist in the Music app; does anyone make use of Siri on the Mac and how useful is it; triggering Siri and Dictation; advantages of the new Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and function key at the bottom left; what is the advantage of getting a Mac cleaning app and can you perform maintenance manually; trouble getting the latest Mac security update; VoiceOver can be hard to use with AirPlay and the volume fluctuates; can you get Perplexity on the Mac and how do you use Apple Intelligence; can you label inaccessible items on the screen with VoiceOver; do Silicon Macs have Visual intelligence; have you encountered nutrition accessibility labels on Mac App Store apps; is there an audible indicator on the Mac to let you know Caps lock is on; is there anything major with macOS 26.4 specifically related to Gemini.

February 26, 20261 hr 28 min

Episode #78 February 24, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: Advancing the Rotor doesn't work on the Mac; Mac and braille display don't connect over Bluetooth; How to locate files on a Thumb drive in Mac Finder; How to share an iCloud Drive folder; Experiences with the new Zoom interface on Mac: Original buttons for Mute/Unmute, Original Sound, and other controls do not appear; Avoid trouble in Zoom participants table by setting VoiceOver to ignore Mouse pointer; Is it better to have VoiceOver ignore the Mouse pointer; Quick Nav must constantly be toggled on and off on many webpages with latest version of Safari; Can you update Safari separately from macOS; is it easy to learn Mac commands; Opinions on new budget Mac to be released soon; Recommendation for external storage of at least 20 gb;

January 28, 20261 hr 29 min

Episode #77 January 27, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: Experience updating to Tahoe; how to add an event to Calendar from Gmail website; can you use Trackpad independently of or in conjunction with VoiceOver for people transitioning to using a screen reader; what Trackpad commands are available for VoiceOver; how to generate better passwords; some websites do not like strong passwords suggested by Safari; how to open a PDF attachment from Mail and read it in Preview; alternate methods for reading PDFs; how to start using Safari instead of Chrome; how to install Google Chrome on the Mac; how to install something in a DMG file; why use Chrome and Safari; what keyboard command represents the right mouse click with VoiceOver; how to right click on the Trackpad; can you press Command-Delete to delete a photo; how to change the behavior of function keys; what is the Image descriptor command; update for Amadeus Pro fixes issues with Tahoe; recommendations for where to get Amadeus Pro; how to write or copy text in the edit field of a message; does learning VoiceOver require familiarity with the keyboard.

December 24, 20251 hr 30 min

Episode #76 December 25, 2025

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: iBUG Mac Training class start date; what to do when Finder is not responding after logging on; How to keep USB-C AirPods Pro from being treated as a wired Mac headset and still connected via Bluetooth to iPhone while plugged into the Mac for charging; Zoom Workplace layout differences between Windows and Mac; how to select non-consecutive items in Finder; how to select multiple messages in Mac mail for deletion; how to search for Mail; how to set up junk mail filtering on Mac; iBUG emails not coming through to Gmail addresses; trying to use Zoom and Apple USB-C EarPods but input and output keep changing; how to DJ on Internet radio using the Mac and Audio Hijack; Mac case is not necessary and keyboard over may warp screen; conversation and messages lists are now in reverse order in latest macOS 26.2 Messages app; how does Spotify fit into Internet Radio discussion; option to search within toolbar is back in Apple Music in macOS 26.2; In Apple music, spacebar works to pause but not always to re-play; cannot open an album with VO- Spacebar in Apple Music; how to read received messages in messages app; can you turn off Bluetooth on Mac; how to get to the info dialog in Finder; how to write accents on the Mac.

November 27, 20251 hr 31 min

Episode #75 November 25, 2025

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: Does MacBook Pro come with a case; Shortcut for completely shutting down the Mac so that it is not toggled on by extraneous key presses or movement; Is the macOS 26 Tahoe Reference Card from National Braille Press useful; where to find the BRF copy of the VoiceOver User Guide, and is it available in hard copy braille; How to move a file from Documents into a new folder; Accessibility of AI programs on the Mac such as Claude and Sora; Perspective Intelligence from Techopolis Online Solutions; has anyone used Slack on the Mac; How to use the universal clipboard to paste something from the Mac into Slack; How to search for a Mac case; what is the Trackpad; understanding how to use the ports on the Mac mini; What to do when activating links in emails shows webpages as images; Workaround for testing things without VoiceOver; how to use VO-Shift-L and what section of the screen does it recognize; How to make changes in a Mac popover such as in Calendar or Reminders without exiting and losing the changes; How to find and dismiss a pages dialog about font substitutions; What is Perky Duck and is it accessible on the Mac; what is a good OCR program for the Mac; Voice Dream Reader on Mac; lower-priced Mac apps offered around Black Friday.

October 29, 20251 hr 32 min

Episode #74 October 29, 2025

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: How to have emails not be automatically marked as read when arrowing through the message list; what does Inbox warning sign mean?; can't get out of Messages list; how to deal with Mail or Finder not responding or VoiceOver being sluggish; Amadeus not responding problem when using Right Arrow to fast forward; Mail freezes when using quick navigation keys to navigate a message, cannot quit or do anything for up to 30 seconds; Mail seems to jump when going down the list deleting messages; updated Mac to Tahoe, has anyone added widgets to Desktop; 2019 Mac is not able to update to Tahoe, is it time for a new Mac; what can you do on the Mac with Apple intelligence; what's new with Tahoe; what is Clipboard History; how to copy a link when it is on a line with other text; use VO-M-M to go to Menu extras; couldn't get universal clipboard to work when trying to paste text from Mac to Facebook Messenger on iPhone; use Bluetooth keyboard VoiceOver commands as alternatives to rotor gestures on iPhone; how to fetch something sent via AirDrop to Mac; use VO-F7 to check WiFi signal; how to play a playlist in Apple Music on a new Mac; does everyone pay for Apple Care on Mac; look for continuity under AirDrop and AirPlay in System Settings; setting List Preview to none in Mail Settings > Viewing causes no message text to be spoken even when Use Column Layout is disabled.

September 26, 20251 hr 29 min

Episode #73 - September 23, 2025

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: How to resolve previous remapping of Control, Option, and Space to start using VoiceOver; no longer able to use context menu in Excel to rename sheets; difference between Action Menu when it says actions available and context menu; correct options are not given for Actions Menu when viewing Dropbox notifications; VO-N versus VO-O; using macOS Sonoma effectively; how to navigate podcasts on the Mac; how to navigate and make sense of rearranged Music app in Tahoe: cannot type in desired search terms or add songs to playlists; opening links in Safari sometimes causes VoiceOver to say image and the webpage doesn't seem to load properly; how to quickly get to podcast chapters in Downcast; are there VoiceOver Tutorial improvements in Tahoe; VoiceOver friendly apps for writing; truth of story that Google Chrome should not be used on Apple devices; where to go with Mac navigation and using it every day; what is a tab group within a website; bugs to be aware of in Tahoe; something blocks an edit box from loading on a banking website in Safari; difference between sound volume and VoiceOver volume.

August 28, 20251 hr 29 min

Episode #72 - August 26, 2025

Facilitator: Chanelle AllenTopics: when using Messages, contacts on iPhone only show as phone numbers on Mac; best technique for using Mac keyboard where right side doesn't have Control key; best keyboard to work with all devices; reverb/echoey audio when using Farrago, Loopback, and Vocaster; good place to start learning VoiceOver commands; since Sequoia 15.6.1, Zoom links don't open and prompt for using the Zoom Workplace app; volume was very low while sharing Loopback audio in Zoom despite sound in file being normalized: disabling audio ducking suggested as solution; what does Farrago do; difference between Audio Hijack and Loopback; is Piezo like Amadeus Pro; Using VLC and not having files open in the Music app; no way to set default app by group, must be done by file type; will copying VoiceOver settings to iCloud transfer to another Mac; adjusting hints: turning them on/off temporarily or increasing delay; truth of rumors that Apple will create a budget MacBook running on the A18 Processor; recommendation for Mac geek Gab and VoiceOver Learning Lounge podcasts.