iBUG Mac-N-Talk

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Jul 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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53 recent

August 27, 20261 hr 25 min

Episode #84 August 26, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle Allen Topics: Chess app broken on M2 Mac mini, are there alternative solutions; how to open a link in a text message with VoiceOver on Mac; automatic updates on Mac don't update software; deciding when to upgrade the operating system; VO- A always starts in the top of a document in TextEdit even when returning to the same open file later; using VO-F followed by the arrow keys does not move to the desired location; turning on VoiceOver in VMWare Fusion crashes the virtual machine; how to create a script to turn offVoiceOver and turn on a virtual machine; when to use Microsoft Word or Apple software; can you save RTF as DOCX in TextEdit; messages on Mac are not syncing with messages on iPhone; email account syncing problems.

July 30, 20261 hr 26 min

Episode #83 July 28, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle Allen Topics: How to download rather than play an audio file in Safari; Problems with Mac fully updating; Items disappeared from the Desktop after doing an update; Widgets appear on the Desktop and how to remove them; Which class explains the new features of the Notes app; Pressing Enter after recording in Amadeus Pro doesn't work to stop the recording; Why do people use Amadeus Pro; No option to remove a widget when using VoiceOver actions menu; Option-Up Arrow and Option-Down Arrow do not work in Mail to go to the top or bottom of the message list; Why can't you use Enter to dismiss a widget; VO-F8 goes to Notification Center instead of VoiceOver Utility; Trouble using non-Apple keyboard with MacBook Air; Disabling Trackpad is possible in the VoiceOver Utility under the Commands category; Trackpad is useful for toggling speech and screen curtain or interacting; threads no longer grouped in Mac mail; How to set up your iPhone or Apple Watch to log into your computer; Advantages of unlocking Mac with Apple Watch; Can the Apple Watch be used to authenticate something on the Mac; When to adjust password and login settings; Is there a benefit to upgrading an M2 Mac; How is Siri AI doing on macOS Golden Gate.

June 25, 20261 hr 27 min

Episode #82 June 23, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle Allen Topics: Mac doesn't save passwords on sites like YouTube after updating to Tahoe; how to drag and drop with VoiceOver compared to using the Trackpad; feedback to new Mac users and participants on the class; Option-Up Arrow doesn't work right away to go to the top of the email list; what are the key commands for page down, specifically how to go down a page in Numbers; Can you set a default file when you open a new TextEdit document; how to get around lots of ads in YouTube videos from the Mac training class; recommended reading for the Mac training class and class archives; is the MacBook Neo a good option or would the MacBook Air be better; how to create a link to a website on your Desktop; will Mac Safari mirror favorites and bookmarks from iPhone; receiving an authentication required message after 10-12 minutes of playing a file in QuickTime player; computer randomly goes to sleep when idle and starts saying authentication application window content is empty; how to turn on screen curtain; turning screen curtain on still shows a band on the screen; Fn key is not to the left of Control on the old extended Mac keyboard; layouts for other Mac keyboards; how to deal with system notifications; several widgets appear on the Desktop when restarting; how to remove desktop widgets; what is the quickest way to answer a FaceTime call when it comes in on your Mac.

May 28, 20261 hr 28 min

Episode #81 May 27, 2026

Facilitator: Chanelle Allen Topics: 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 Allen Topics: 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 Allen Topics: 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 Allen Topics: 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 Allen Topics: 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 Allen Topics: 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 Allen Topics: 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.