James Dean

I used GPTPlus to do some research on an interesting little bit in episode 82 of Access on. Here's my prompt, its response and finally, everything it did because I found that very fascinating! Prompt: In episode 82 of Access on hosted by Jonathan Mosen, he mentioned that Microsoft is providing a "sanctioned" way in the near future to bypass the Microsoft Account login requirement when setting up a new PC but he did not expound upon the details of what that is. Find out more if you can. Response: What Jonathan was probably referring to I found the exact item. Access On episode 82 was published July 1, 2026, and the segment labeled “Accessibility developments at Microsoft” begins at 55:19. Unfortunately, neither the Apple Podcasts notes nor the NFB posting includes the details Jonathan mentioned. Apple Podcasts+1 After checking Microsoft’s current documentation and recent Windows changes, I could not find an announcement that Microsoft is restoring a normal “Use a local account” button for ordinary Windows 11 Home or Pro setup. In fact, Microsoft has recently been moving the other way: disabling commands such as OOBE\BYPASSNRO and start ms-cxh:localonly in newer Insider builds. Microsoft says these tricks can skip necessary setup stages. The Verge+1 The most likely meaning of a Microsoft-sanctioned method is therefore an unattended Windows installation using an answer file, usually named: Copy autounattend.xml How the sanctioned method works Microsoft’s official Windows Setup system supports an answer file containing a UserAccounts section. Within that section, LocalAccounts and LocalAccount can tell Windows Setup to create a local user during installation. Microsoft’s documentation explicitly says: • UserAccounts can specify local accounts to be created. • LocalAccounts specifies local accounts created during installation. • A LocalAccount entry can contain the username, display name, password and local group, such as Administrators. • These settings are valid during the oobeSystem configuration phase—the same phase containing the ordinary first-run setup screens. Microsoft Learn+3Microsoft Learn+3Microsoft Learn+3 You ordinarily place the answer file in the root directory of a Windows installation USB drive. Windows Setup detects it and performs the specified setup automatically, including creating the local account. Because this uses Microsoft’s documented deployment mechanism rather than exploiting an accidental command or hidden setup page, it is much less likely to be deliberately broken. A simplified account portion looks approximately like this: XML Copy James James Administrators YourPasswordHere true That fragment is not a complete answer file by itself; it must be enclosed in the appropriate XML structure and Windows Setup component. Is this coming “in the near future”? Here is where things get murky. The answer-file mechanism is not new. Microsoft has supported unattended account creation for years. What may be changing is that it is becoming the recommended surviving route after Microsoft removes the informal OOBE commands. In other words, Jonathan may have meant: Microsoft is closing the improvised bypasses, but a properly prepared unattended installation remains a supported way to deploy Windows with a local account. That would fit the word “sanctioned,” although describing it as something Microsoft will provide “in the near future” would be slightly misleading—the machinery already exists. There is another supported path on Windows 11 Pro, but it is less dependable: 1. Choose Set up for work or school. 2. At the organizational sign-in screen, choose Sign-in options. 3. Choose Domain join instead. 4. Windows may then ask you to create a local account. Microsoft documentation confirms that Pro and higher editions support organizational setup and domain/Entra enrollment, while Home does not. However, the specific “Domain join instead” escape route has varied between Windows builds and OEM installations, so I would not bank on it remaining available for personal setups. Microsoft Learn+1 My conclusion At the moment, I see no evidence of a forthcoming consumer-friendly Microsoft button that simply removes the Microsoft-account requirement. The genuinely Microsoft-documented, sanctioned option is most likely: Create Windows installation media containing an autounattend.xml answer file that creates your local administrator account during Setup. That is more complicated than pressing Shift+F10 and entering one command, but it has two big advantages: • It is based on Microsoft’s supported Windows deployment framework. • It can completely avoid entering a disposable Microsoft account and then cleaning it out afterward. One important caution: because the answer file may contain the local account password in readable text, the installation USB should be protected or the password changed immediately after setup. Microsoft documents ways to obscure sensitive values in answer files, but the protection is not equivalent to securely encrypting the USB. Microsoft Learn I suspect Jonathan had received information directly through Microsoft’s accessibility contacts that has not yet appeared in public documentation. Based solely on what is publicly verifiable, the unattended answer-file route is the only explanation I can confidently connect to his use of “sanctioned.” Process: Thinking Thinking Thinking Searching web for Microsoft sanctioned bypass and OOBE changes Searching [www.theguardian.com] Searching podcasts.apple.com Searching [www.livingblindfully.com] Searching [www.microsoft.com] Searching en.wikipedia.org Searching [www.youtube.com] Searching techcommunity.microsoft.com Searching davidbombal.com Searching [www.homedepot.com] Searching mosen.org Searching askleo.com Searching nfb.org Searching [www.tomshardware.com] Searching podcasts7m.podbean.com Searching [www.reddit.com] Searching rtech.support Searching [www.theverge.com] Searching [www.windowscentral.com] Searching timesofindia.indiatimes.com Searching [www.pcgamer.com] Searched 21 websites Inspecting available whisper commands Inspected available whisper commands Searching for "sanctioned method" in Windows setup Searching learn.microsoft.com Searching [www.linkedin.com] Searching arstechnica.com Searching memstechtips.com Searched 12 websites Thinking Downloading audio and transcribing segment Downloaded audio and transcribed segment Searching Microsoft Docs for Windows 11 setup information Searching learn.microsoft.com Searching [www.microsoft.com] Searching en.wikipedia.org Searching blogs.windows.com Searching [www.windowscentral.com] Searching support.microsoft.com Worked for 1m 28s

@daygar@tweesecake.social @LockOrientation@tweesecake.social I've had issues with very cheap Bluetooth keyboards, say $10 or so, but $20 and up keyboards have worked well for me over the years and now I have two higher-end keyboards that work great with Bluetooth! The Nuphy Air75V3 and the MXKeys something-something.

@FreakyFwoof Haha absolutely love the sarcastic responses I've gotten for this!

@mcourcel @FreakyFwoof Haha I do love HHG!

@NicksWorld @munchkinbear @vol4life8657 No, it's a handheld fully capable Windows 11 gaming PC.

@simon Do we need to get ECI.dll from somewhere else to get this to work? Very hesitant to test as I'm an Eloquence head.

@dandylover1@someplace.social It should also be noted that the volume mixer doesn't show *every* running program, only ones that have made a sound recently, so if you run into a situation as I have where you're not seeing a program you think you should, that's most likely why.

@mcourcel @simon @techsinger @vol4life8657 Ah OK, excellent!

@simon @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Also, I thought the Framework laptops were having hardware issues.

@simon @mcourcel @vol4life8657 I get what you're saying, but I figure a laptop keyboard isn't replaceable yet I can still connect my favorite MXKeys to it whenever I want so it's alright for me.

@LeonianUniverse @serrebi Now Apple went and messed with QuickNav. Used to be, it was one QuickNav mode, on or off, all or nothing. Now, they split them up so you have Single-Letter QuickNav and all QuickNav and you can set which one gets enabled when you hit left and right arrows together, but you can also use VO+Q to toggle single-letter QuickNav separately. So once you figure out which one of those configurations works best for you, then you have to learn when to turn it on and off and that just takes practice. All this to say, the quickest way to navigate around a Mac is liberal use of QuickNav and finding out which controlls in which windows Tab will and won't move you to, because tab isn't the main navigation key like in Windows but it will get you to some places. Then you can dive into Numbpad commanders and really speed your navigation up but Apple went and messed with that, too, making it more difficult than it should be to customize the commands.

@mcourcel @simon @vol4life8657 These will also be necessary if we want to check out the HP EliteBoardG1a PC when it comes out, which that probably will be me. https://www.hp.com/us-en/desktops/business/eliteboard.html

@simon @techsinger @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Yeah it says 32 Watt battery but I have no idea what that would translate to for even "normal" usage.

@simon @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Oh wow, didn't know any laptops had replaceable keyboards other than of course Framework. That's very good to learn!

@LWorksGames @cubic @Rich Yes. I tried several Linux distros with Workstation and got very choppy, almost unusable, speech on all of them except Slint and I wasn't satisfied with that, so ended up getting a Mini PC to run Fedora on. Here's hoping you can figure out something that doesn't make you want to rage.

@Rich @sapphireangel The problem here is that people love to run with what others have told them and don't bother to educate themselves. This view that Opensource is bad is very old and @NVAccess gave many examples of opensource software used in the medical field, so it is literally this myth that's being towed along by people that have nothing to do with the IT sector but are still in charge of making and enforcing policies.

@averlice @techsinger@tweesecake.social @GraceTechNerd@mastodon.social @alexchapman@vee.seedy.cc @BlazieTech@tweesecake.social I don't like this either but it should be pointed out that security updates are provided to all BTSpeak owners, but updates containing new features are paid.

@serrebi @simon Oh you can copy it from JAWS and it will work for NVDA? What a neat trick! Did grab simon's ECI Add-On though.

@mcourcel @serrebi @LeonianUniverse I switched to Crhome on the Mac some time back and it's much better than Safari because it doesn't go non-responsive at least on my M2 here.

RE: https://allovertheplace.ca/@DavidGoldfield/117338509866133007 Another one? Choice is great and all, but this is getting ridiculous. Quit reinventing the wheel over and over again, people! It just breeds confusion!

@techsinger @simon @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Oh it is literally the Rog Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, hmmm, so you did have to redo Windows completely? I don't like the sound of that.

@techsinger @simon @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Because I also find myself in situations where I want to use a laptop as a laptop, because I don't necessarily mind laptop keyboards, just like the MXKeys the best. Having said that, though, I was for some time under the false impression that these handheld gaming PC's ran some stripped down version of Windows that I would struggle with as far as accessibility, but I was recently told that the ROG Ally at least runs full Windows and is actually powerful without turning into a handheld heater. That and the GDPWin are the only two small formfactor laptops I know about though, so thinking about these but I definitely need to learn more about available models and configurations.

@vol4life8657 @LeonianUniverse Ok so mine was third then! LOL yay!

@mikedoise So this is different than Perspective Intelligence? Why not make it a feature of that rather than making a whole new App?

@mcourcel @techsinger @simon @vol4life8657 My sighted partner had a Steamdec and it ran games alright but was terrible with battery and did run quite hot.

@techsinger @mcourcel @simon @vol4life8657 That's awesome you were able to use it for VM's! I suppose I could solve the USBC issue with a hub, but the Steamdec is also a little old at this point, so I'll wait and see what comes along. I'm not anxious to buy one right at this moment anyway what with RAM prices being what they are.

@munchkinbear @vol4life8657 OK here's two then! Gotta put the new Rog Ally X through its multiplayer paces!

@stevenscott Oh no! Not your buttons! Mr. F will once again turn into a dog! Or possibly a cat or even a buzzer!

@simon Thank you good sir!

@technocounselor@caneandable.social @JStark@caneandable.social Interesting that you find them comfortable, because I don't. They sit weirdly on my face, like they're not quite centered and the frames feel too thick on the bridge of my nose. Not heavy, just not nearly as thin as regular glasses and that's what I was used to for a while. This is really subjective and I'm concerned that the hardware is going to continue to be underwhelming, but I'm waiting for the final version to come out and if it's not much better, I'll be filing a lot more feedback reports.

@joslee@mastodon.world @ppatel@mstdn.social @amir@dragonscave.space @NVAccess@fosstodon.org I trust what you're saying, but could I have an example? Links are on their own line with Screen Layout off, so I don't get the difference that this Add-On makes.

@ratking @LWorksGames I agree, even inspired me to get to grips with Joy To Key again so I can make other audio games use my controller too!

@simon @techsinger @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Oh really? It will do all that automatically? Or do I have to make sure I check certain things? I've never used Rufus, just the Media Creation Tool at some point.

@JStark@caneandable.social @technocounselor@caneandable.social Probably so, faces are apparently quite unique which is why I said this is very subjective and without a bunch of different frame sizes, they're going to have more returns than they might otherwise and I don't think they can manage that on their own. Some people that have these can't even use them because they litterally won't stay on their face.

@techsinger @simon @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Ah yes, Steam OS. I wouldn't mind redoing Windows on these other devices eventually, but good to know I could at least use it to get familiar with the device itself then disable things as I find I need or want to.

@simon @techsinger @mcourcel @vol4life8657 Thanks! Bookmarked! I mean that still requires me to have a bootable USB drive around, which I do have a recent image so I could definitely make one.

@techsinger @mcourcel @simon @vol4life8657 Oh right, well yep there goes that idea then.