[blindlaw] Integrating Apple technology with Windows

[Marc Workman]

Steve wrote,

In addition, I do not believe that Apple's version of Office works with VoiceOver at this point unless that has changed.

I'm not sure if and when they weren't compatible, but iWork, Apple's version of Office, has been more or less accessible to Voiceover users for at least the year and a half that I've had my Mac. I believe the suite of apps was updated in 2009, so that might have been when they became accessible.

I say more or less accessible because I think there is general, though not unanimous agreement, that *advanced* word processing and spreadsheet work is, at the very least, easier and involves fewer workarounds when using Office and a Windows screen reader. My understanding is that there are pretty significant accessibility issues with Keynote, the Apple equivalent to Power Point. Reading presentations is possible, but creation is, at best, difficult.

Regarding compatibility issues, I have had problems opening and editing .doc files when switching from one platform to the other, so I now try to save things in RTF, though there may be issues with adopting that practice in all situations.

Regards,

Marc
On 2012-03-13, at 8:50 AM, Steve Jacobson wrote:

> Daniel,
> 
> In addition, I do not believe that Apple's version of Office works with VoiceOver at this point unless 
> that has changed.  The problem isn't with VoiceOver, as I understand it, but how Office for the MAC is 
> written.  In addition, while you can exchange documents between Apple's TextEdit or even Open Office, 
> there are compatibility issues there.  Therefore, and this is not a knock on Apple at all, I would tend 
> to want to use whichever platform is being used by an office within which you work.  Although people do 
> it, I'm not sure I would even try using Windows on a MAC because there are just unknowns there although 
> I don't doubt it works.  If one is working independently, then one definitely should examine Windows and 
> Macs to figure out which would work best for them.  I am convinced that MACs are probably more stable 
> and that there are other advantages, but the fact is that the two platforms are different and each has 
> advantages and disadvantages.  
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> On Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:00:41 -0400, Daniel K. Beitz wrote:
> 
>> If your office is using windows, the best thing to do is use windows.
>> Apples version of office is not fully compatible with office for windows,
>> and the windows environment is the standard in business.  Apples phones,
>> iPods etc. are great, but you need a PC and Jaws for the office.
> 
>> -------------------------------------------
>> Daniel K. Beitz
>> Wienner & Gould, P.C.
>> 950 University Dr., Ste. 350
>> Rochester, MI  48307
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>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Andrew Webb
>> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 10:21 PM
>> To: 'Blind Law Mailing List'
>> Subject: [blindlaw] Integrating Apple technology with Windows
> 
>> Hello again,
> 
>> 
> 
>> For those using Apple technology as a matter of personal choice, what do you
>> do if the office where you work uses Windows?  Do you have effective means
>> of merging your Apple apps and documents in a Windows environment?  Are your
>> Apple word processing documents and spreadsheets, etc. readily convertible
>> to Windows?  Are there other compatibility issues that might arise?
> 
>> 
> 
>> Thanks,
> 
>> Andrew 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
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