[Blindmath] re math on apple products

Fri Dec 31 19:46:08 UTC 2010

Hey guys

I only got one chance at exploring a spreadh sheet application on a
Mac, the numbers app for iWorks, and i found it highly frustrating.
I could not read whether content was a formula or not, I could not
list cells with data in them, moving around the spradsheet was a major
hassle, I could not read cell comments, I could not see if a spread
sheet had graphs or other objects (important when I have written
scripts and have buttons that can run them).
How is Excel for the Mac in terms of accessibility, is it much better
and can you do these things there?
I was not overly impressed with Voiceover on OSX, the fact it's there
and it's very workable is awesome, but I feel it still has a way to go
to reach Windows quality in some areas (understandably, I am not
saying it won't happen, but it has not yet).
Their work with the iPhone is fantastic and by far the most accessible
phone out there, I bought one and I like it a lot, minor
inconveniences and annoyances with phone calls and the proximity
sensor issue but upgrading IOS to 4.2 helps a lot in that area).
But, bottomline, I could not do some more advanced spread sheet work
with VoiceOver and I am wondering if I just lack experience, if
Numbers was not a good application to try, or if Apple still has ways
to go to make this app accessible.
Yes, an article was written in Accessworld that basically states WP7
is not accessible and will not be and Microsoft just said "oops,
sorry", so no respect to them in that area.
There is also precious little happening in accessibility for Android
and Chrome, at lesat from Google, though I remain hopeful that we'll
see something from them in 2011.
Apple is clearly the leader and innovator, along with NVDA, so I hope
we'll see these guys do even better in the coming year.
Cheers
=B

On 12/31/10, Vincent Martin <vmartin at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Roopakshi:
> You are so correct when math and science are concerned in the business
> arena.  I have had a little more success in certain situations with my MAC.
> I am still annoyed that I have to go between Linux, MAC, and Windows in an
> attempt to keep up with everyone and then many things are still not
> accessible.  Fortunately, my supervisor at work does have a MAC and A
> windows machine and only turns his Windows machine on just to check his
> Veterans Administration specific e-mail.
>
> The sonnification lab at Georgia Tech where I do my school research is
> primarily a MAC lab as well.  I absolutely love being able to just move
> around the lab at will and make any computer talk with a combination
> keystroke.  I still wish Apple would just lower the cost of every MAC by
> about 200 dollars and watch their sales skyrocket and watch Microsoft
> squirm.
>
>
> With the Windows 7 mobile phone platform not being accessible and will never
> be, it is quite obvious where we stand with Microsoft.  It seems as if MS
> Windows is reasonable accessible and their other item of inters is making
> sure that you can use the features in Office that everyone else uses.  Other
> than that, we are in deep trouble.
>
> I know I get truly sick and tired of writing scripts for a new program and I
> still need sighted assistance to write the scripts.  Using three different
> screen reading programs in Windows, using my MAC, and also Linux from the
> command line and with the Gnome desktop, I keep such a plethora of
> information in my head that it usually makes my colleagues head spin when I
> "change" to a new platform or different operating system.
>
> With all of that being said, I still love my MAC and the other Apple
> products I own such as my Nano and Iphone.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of blindmath-request at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 1:00 PM
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Blindmath Digest, Vol 53, Issue 16
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Accessibility of Math Applications on iOS Devices and	Related
>       Observations (Roopakshi Pathania)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:07:35 -0800 (PST)
> From: Roopakshi Pathania <r_akshi_tgk at yahoo.com>
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Blindmath] Accessibility of Math Applications on iOS Devices
> 	and	Related Observations
> Message-ID: <615352.33708.qm at web38702.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> So these days I?m busy playing with my new toy: a shiny squeaky new iPod
> Touch and a plethora of accessible apps that can be downloaded.
> Naturally, after a few days, my interest shifted to the discovery of
> accessible science and Math based apps.
> I downloaded a few, but they weren?t accessible enough to satisfy me. I have
> recently found my first fully accessible Math app for iOS devices.
> It?s called Equation Genius. The app solves equations for you: it can solve
> quadratic and cubic equations as well as system of linear equations up to 3
> unknowns. The fields are labeled with the coefficients you need to input.
> Once you start editing, the labels disappear, or at least they are not
> announced.
> It is free for now.
> http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/equation-genius-math-equation/id372919594?mt=
> 8#
>
> Besides this, the default calculator on iOS devices is completely
> accessible. If you turn your iPhone or iPod into the landscape mode, the
> regular calculator becomes a scientific calculator.
>
> Coming to some of my gloomy reflections, experimenting with the iOS
> ecosystem has strengthened my belief that the future of accessibility of
> productive applications on Windows in particular looks quite bleak from
> where I stand.
> The reason why I?m referring to Windows is because this is presently the
> main platform used in corporate environments around the world.
> The ultimate purpose of studying science or math based subjects, according
> to me at least, is to work in the same field in future. Unless you plan to
> teach, in which case, you can skip the rest of my diatribe.
> All technical fields today depend on specialized software to perform
> particular tasks.
> For a number of reasons, many of the software applications available have
> little to no built-in accessibility.
> Software for data analysis, computer simulation and modeling, business
> intelligence tools, cloud-based office applications, financial accounting,
> report designers and generators, trading platforms, mind mapping, some of
> the developing environments and many other categories- are not usable right
> out of the box.
>  Of course, there are accessible software applications as well, but those
> are just a handful.
> Not to mention that companies quite frequently use in-house software which
> is rarely accessible.
> There is life beyond Microsoft Office.
> And even if we consider only MS applications, accessibility issues crop up
> especially while trying to use advance features. I can attest to that fact
> since I use Excel regularly.
>
> Have a happy new year
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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