Vacuum equipment is not needed, but it can speed up the process. I too have always used the lever pump method, synchronizing each lever action with an opening then closing of the bleed nipple. As long as the reservoir is kept filled with fluid, no air is pulled into the system.
One of the issues of any other technique is that the threads at the bleed nipple leak in air--many folks wrap the nipple threads with Teflon tape to reduce that, or like me we close the nipple at the end of every lever stroke so that air isn't pulled back in through those threads.
There is no right way or wrong way, as long as you have a method that completes the bleeding
without air in the lines at a speed that works for you.