How do blind use Mac Version QQ International

(updated on Oct 2, 2013)

Step 1: Download Mac Version QQ International

Download page: http://www.imqq.com/download/. The default button is for Windows and there is a link for Mac version. Here is a direct download link to Mac Version 2.4.0 which is released on Aug 27, 2013.

Step 2: Install and Run

When launch QQ, a login window will be open. The first textfield is QQ account. The second is password field. When enter both fields, just press ENTER to login.

Step 3: Accessible functions

When we open QQ, Voice Over will tell us that we are on one of 3 radio buttons. In fact, they are tabs. To switch between tabs, move with LEFT and RIGHT arrow key, then press SPACE to select. The first tab is our friends list. The second tab is our groups list. The third tab is friends list those we have contacted recently. We can press TAB key to move into one of the tab content, which is a list of friends or groups.

In the list of friends, we can use UP and DOWN arrow key to navigate contact list. To start a chat session, just press ENTER key. A new chat window will be open.

If you press TAB key again in the contact list, we will focus on the bottom of QQ window. There are 6 buttons including adding friends and system settings. However, both important buttons are not accessible. To use these functions, please use the Android version through your phone. Here is a direct download link to Android Version 4.5.10.16

After pressing TAB 6 times, we will back to top 3 tabs.

Use Adium with lwqq plugin

Another way to use QQ on Mac is to use Adium with lwqq plugin. But the plugin may be not quite stable or even crash. lwqq is short for Linux Web QQ. It has been port to Windows and Mac. It hacks the protocol of Web QQ to implement a third party client. Here is the process to install lwqq:

1. Download and install Adium from Adium website
2. Install Brew:

   $ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)"

3. Get new brew formula:

   $ brew tap homebrew/dupes

4. Install dependencies of lwqq:

   $ brew install sqlite3 zlib curl spidermonkey

5. Download and install latest Mac version of lwqq
6. Launch Adium and add "WebQQ" account