RIM (Remote Incident Manager) and Tandem are two programs that are accessible to people who are blind/visually impaired to remotely access computers. Tandem is only available if you use the JAWS screen reader, but RIM is available for both Windows and Mac computers. In fact, a person who is blind and uses RIM can access somebody’s computer even if the computer has no screen reader installed. Below are instructions for using both programs.

To connect to somebody’s computer using Tandem:

Have the person Alt Tab to JAWS and do the following:

  1. Press Alt U. If they hear JAWS tandem sub menu, press Enter.
  2. If they hear Tandem Center sub menu, they press Enter again.
  3. If they hear Allow Access to my computer, they press Enter again.
  4. Then, they need to type a code that you give them.

You get this code by doing the following:

  1. Alt Tab to JAWS.
  2. Press Alt U. If you hear JAWS Tandem sub menu, press Enter.
  3. If you hear Tandem Center sub menu, press Enter again.
  4. Down arrow to Get Access and press Enter.
  5. Tab to Get Access and press Enter again.
  6. Press the Home key or 7 on the number pad to go to the beginning of the code.
  7. Left or right arrow to read the code.
  8. After the person types the code, they press Enter. You should be connected to their computer.

For Remote Incident Manager, the person needs to download the program first. To do that, they will need to go to the Remote Incident Manager web site. There is a link on that site called “For Windows.” They need to activate that link. Once the program is finished downloading, they will need to go to their Downloads folder and run the program. It is called rimsetup. When they run the program, they may be asked if they want to allow it to make changes to their computer. They should press Alt y.

To connect to their computer, you do the following:

  1. Start Remote Incident Manager.
  2. Find the button called Provide Remote Help Instead. The easiest way to find it is probably to press Control End to go to the bottom of the page then up arrow.
  3. Press Enter when you find it.
  4. Find the box to type in a key word. This is one that you make up. Find it by pressing the letter e or using the arrow keys. If you hear a chime from NVDA or a popping sound from JAWS, you can type a key word. If not, press Space first.
  5. Press Tab. If the person has a microphone, check the box to start voice conversation.
  6. Tab to Start and press Enter.

The other person needs to start Remote Incident Manager. They press the Windows key and type the word Remote. If they hear Remote Incident Manager, they press Enter. If not, they press down arrow until they hear it, then press Enter. They need to use the arrow keys to see if there is a button that says receive help now. If they find that button, they need to press Enter on it. They need to type the key word you made up into the box that asks for a key word then press Enter.