[nabs-l] [nfbcs] Mac Accessibility

[Steve Jacobson]

Joe,

Dean Martineau's advice is sound, get in touch with some MAC users via the list he mentions.  If there are MAC users on these lists, though, by all means share your 
experiences.

>From a technical standpoint, VoiceOver is not JFW or Window-Eyes.  That does not mean that it may not perform as well in some circumstances and it should not be 
disregarded by any means.  However, the environment is different and the approach is different.  VoiceOver depends more exclusively on applications following the 
rules, so to speak.  Apple believes that this will work on the MAC because they have more control over the applications that run on the MAC.  Whether that is true 
only time will tell.  Therefore, it is important that you find out what applications are being used on the MAC.  If applications are being used that won't work with 
VoiceOver, then it probably is not worth making the switch.  It is my understanding that Microsoft for the MAC does not work with VoiceOver, for example.  

You do not have to install anything for VoiceOver to work providing the MAC is running a version of the operating system that is not too old.  Pretty much any MAC 
purchased or updated during the past couple of years will have VoiceOver on it.  You can toggle it on and off by pressing COMAND F5.  The "Command" key is 
simply another sort of shift key available on the MAC.  Pressing that same key combination will turn VoiceOver off.

In addition, there are ways to run Windows programs on a MAC.  I have definitely heard of people running Window-Eyes with Windows apps on the MAC.  However, 
this does not let you use JFW or Window-Eyes with MAC applications.  If you can't use the MAC software that your co-workers are using with VoiceOver, then I 
question the advantage of using a MAC to run Windows applications.  

Now, I have a challenge for you.  Since you are going to do some research, how about coming back and sharing what you learned with these lists.  This is a subject 
that is interesting to many people, and with VoiceOver out there, there will be more people considering making this move.  While I know there are gaps, there seems 
to be a lot of satisfied users,.  It would be helpful to know what the gaps are and where the MAC works well for us.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 28 May 2009 00:35:09 -0400, Joe Orozco wrote:

>Hello all,

>Forgive the cross post.  I need information from former PC users who are now
>using the Mac environment as their primary operating system.  My questions:

>1. How steep is the learning curve moving from Mac to PC?

>2. Is Firefox available to the Mac environment, and are there any
>limitations to the browser in this environment?

>3. What general limitations have you discovered using Mac moving from the
>PC?

>4. Is Voice Over built into the Mac system.  If not, how much is it, and
>where is it found?

>5. How often is the screen reader for the Mac OS updated?  How comparable is
>Voice Over to JAWS?  What kind of speech does Voice Over use?

>6. How easy is it to exchange documents between PC and Mac machines?

>I hope someone can help me address some or all of these points.  I've picked
>up an organization who insists on using Mac computers.  I would rather stick
>to the PC.  I'm not impressed with JAWS a lot of times, but it's what I
>know.  That said, I have a Mac laptop headed to me, and I suppose I had
>better learn how to adopt to the new environment real quick-like.  I would
>appreciate any and all advice you can provide.

>Many thanks in advance.

>Regards,

>Joe Orozco
> 

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