This modpack is an unofficial community project created by @BrailleBennett. It was made for the Fabric mod loader for usage on the client side only. Here is a link to its Modrinth page, where you can read more about it. It runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Optional Screenreader

You may want to make use of a screenreader, such as one of these:

1. NVDA (for Windows, free and open source)
2. JAWS (for Windows, requires payment and not open source)
3. VoiceOver (for MacOS, built-in)
4. ORCA (for Linux, free and open source)

The modpack will work fine without a screenreader if you don’t need one, but on Windows, some words on the screen won’t be read out to you, such as the names of blocks you are looking at. Using a screenreader is recommended for those with very limited vision who cannot read words on the screen easily.

On Linux, you do not need Orca for this but you do need Speech Dispatcher installed to read out words on the screen. You should be able to install it with your distribution’s package manager, probably under the name speech-dispatcher or speechd. You may also have to install eSpeak NG for speech to work. If you do not hear speech, run the spd-say test command before you start the game to make sure Speech Dispatcher has started and is working. If you do not hear anything after running that command, check your Speech Dispatcher configuration in either ~/.config/speech-dispatcher/ or /etc/speech-dispatcher/, and kill the speech-dispatcher process before testing again. If you use Orca, it will already be installed and set up, so you do not have to worry about this.

Installing the Modpack

Method 1 - Modrinth (recommended)

To install the Visually Impaired Access modpack, you’re going to want to install the Modrinth launcher app

1. Install the Modrinth Launcher: After downloading the launcher from the provided link, follow the installation prompts.
2. Once opening the launcher or pulling it into your screen reader’s focus, to get your screen reader to recognize buttons on the screen you will need to click anywhere with your mouse. If you have no mouse and use the NVDA screen reader, simply use NVDA+numpad multiply to jump the mouse cursor to the window after using alt+tab to put the window in focus. Then use NVDA+numpad divide, this should force NVDA to recognize buttons on the screen and read them to you. This workaround will need to be done when bringing Modrinth into focus after it has been alt-tabbed away from.
3. Sign in to Minecraft: Once the launcher is installed, sign in to your Microsoft account. This step is necessary to verify that you own the game and to allow the launcher to download game files for you.
4. Find the modpacks Tab: After signing in, navigate to the Modpacks tab in the launcher.
5. Search for the Pack: Use the search function to look for vi-access or a similar term. You should see Visually Impaired Access Mods - Fabric by BrailleBennett as the top result.
6. Install the Pack: Click on the Visually Impaired Access Mods - Fabric pack and find the Install button. Click Install to add the mod pack to your library.
7. Go to Your Library: Navigate back to the “Library” tab, which is located at the top of the launcher interface.
8. Find the Installed Pack: In your library, look for the entry labeled Visually Impaired Access Mods - Fabric followed by Fabric <game version>. This entry should be near the bottom of your library screen. A good trick to finding it is to navigate by links using your screen reader until there are no more links and then arrow down a few times.
9. Launch the Game: Once you’ve located the pack, click on it, then press the Play button to start the installation and launch the game.

Method 2 - manual (not recommended)

There are some players who find the Modrinth launcher to not be accessible enough. In this case it is advisable for them to manually install the pack within their base Minecraft installation. If you wish to do this, return to the basic setup guide and continue following the instructions until you get to the point where you are downloading mods and then come back here.

1. If you want to use manual installation you can download a compressed zip file of the pack files from this 3rd party tool. This tool downloads and compresses all files on your device, and it is all run on your device. It may take a little while to complete due to the amount of files it has to download.
2. Unzip the downloaded file
3. Use control+A and then control+C to copy all of its contents, or command+A and command+C on MacOS
4. Next, find the Minecraft directory which will be located at %appdata%\.minecraft on Windows by default, or ~/.minecraft on Linux, or ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft on MacOS
5. Delete the existing options.txt file as well as the mods, resourcepacks, and Config folders
6. Paste in the files from the zip file you downloaded in step 1 using control+V, or command+V on MacOS
7. Launch the game and verify that Minecraft Access is speaking by entering a world and looking around

Updating the Modpack

Method 1 - Modrinth

1. Click on the installation of the modpack in your library
2. Find the Update Pack button on the same screen as the Play button
3. Look for the heading that says Select Pack Version
4. Find the top version number in the list
5. Click the button to the left of the top version number to apply it
6. Refresh the page
7. Launch the game and verify that Minecraft Access is speaking by entering a world and looking around

Method 2 - manual

1. Use the 3rd party tool to download the latest pack file. It may take a little while to complete due to the amount of files it has to download.
2. Unzip the pack file
3. Copy all files contained within with control+A and then control+C, or command+A and command+C on MacOS
4. Go to your Minecraft installation (defaulted to %appdata%\.minecraft on Windows, or ~/.minecraft on Linux, or ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft on MacOS
5. Delete the mods folder (optionally excluding any mods you personally added yourself)
6. Delete config\yosbr
7. Delete config\viafabricplus\jars
8. Delete resourcepacks (optionally excluding any resource packs you added yourself))
9. Paste in the files from the zip file you downloaded in step 1 using control+V, or command+V on MacOS
10. Launch the game and verify that Minecraft Access is speaking by entering a world and looking around