Will Sierra Finally Allow Users to Block Blinking Cursors?

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Level 1

50 points

Will Sierra Finally Allow Users to Block Blinking Cursors?

Hi,

I'm still using El Capitan, but I have a strobe sensitivity. Flashing and blinking screw with my eyesight around the flash, and screw with my balance, and trigger my migraines. I don't know the medical details, except that it's not photosensitive epilepsy.

I have been having a lot of trouble with the flashing cursors in many apps. For example, LibreOffice defaults to system settings for cursor handling, and OS X doesn't or didn't have any settings to allow users to disable blinking.

I tried the fix here which works in a few apps, such as Textedit, but not most:

http://www.macissues.com/2014/12/08/how-to-change-your-macs-text-cursor-blink-ra te/

I think that fix works with certain apis, but I can't find much more about that.

If there still isn't a fix that works everywhere, then I'm going to need some way to identify which applications it works in, without trial and error, so I can find a better word processor, a better mail app, etc. I already use Firefox with about:config fixes, script-blocking tools, and animation-blocking tools, which covers that, though it doesn't block all animation and can't make all websites accessible.

MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Sep 29, 2016 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 1, 2016 2:14 AM in response to Marja E

If you go to Preferences > Accessibility > Display does checking [ ] Reduce motion and then shrinking the size of the cursor with the slider help?

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Answer 2

Marja E Author

Level 1

50 points

Oct 3, 2016 9:41 PM in response to trevoz

I haven't installed Sierra, but my understanding is that reduce motion only affects full-screen animation.

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Answer 3

Marja E Author

Level 1

50 points

Oct 13, 2016 11:30 AM in response to Marja E

I have now installed Sierra. It still doesn't help block animation, and it disabled my mouse drivers. Apparently a number of the apps use Webkit, so is there any way to disable flashing/blinking cursors in Webkit?

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Answer 4

Marja E Author

Level 1

50 points

Nov 6, 2016 11:38 AM in response to Marja E

With the right NSText settings, NeoOffice avoids flashing, and with the right application settings Firefox and Thunderbird also avoid flashing.

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Answer 5

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,678 points

Nov 6, 2016 11:45 AM in response to Marja E

Can you post what you did to resolve it in those apps?

Other users may benefit if they stumble across this post & hope to do the same.

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Answer 6

Marja E Author

Level 1

50 points

Nov 6, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Drew Reece

In apps using NSText to render text, go into the terminal.

You can use this to check the current blink rates; I don't know if it will return anything if you haven't changed these:

defaults read -g | grep Blink

You can use these or your preferred values to set the new blink rates; the higher the value, the longer the period before it switches:

defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod -float 10000

defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriodOn -float 10000

defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriodOff -float 10

Some apps will use the first line, others the second and third.

http://www.macissues.com/2014/12/08/how-to-change-your-macs-text-cursor-blink-ra te/

In apps using Webkit, you will need app-specific fixes; In Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey go into about:config.

In Firefox, you can go into about:config by typing about:config into the url bar. In Thunderbird, you can go into Preferences > Advanced > General and click the Config Editor. You can create a new integer value for ui.caretBlinkTime and set it to 0 to stop blinking.

In Wine, you may or may not be able to get Windows-based fixes to work. I haven't.

http://www.jurta.org/en/prog/noblink

I hope this helps!

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