This was before I lost my vision. I started using Avast around 2006 or 7, back then it was version 4.something and used standard windows controls in its user interface. Version 5 was pretty much the same thing. But version 6 and later looked like a completely different program, unlike versions 4 and 5 it was very heavily skinned. I would guess that that is when accessibility went into the crapper. All I know now is that I started using JAWS in late 2013 and by then Avast was pretty much an inaccessible mess.
Thanks for the tip about Unchecky, I'll have to look it up. It's easy enough to uncheck those options as long as they are accessible, but that isn't a given, I've run across a few installers where you could look at but not touch those options.
@Turtlepower17
I know I said I'd wait, but I got restless last night and made the switch to the portable version, you were right, except for a couple of settings which are not stored in the ini file, all my settings were honored, even better, changing them changes the ini file so there's always a way to preserve the settings for reinstalls or transferring to a new machine.
And I'll agree with the others, Since I'm using Windows 7 I'm using Security Essentials and of all the anti virus, anti malware programs I've looked at, it's the only one that is fully accessible.