[nfb-talk] Mac with Voice Over

[Chad Allen]

Thank you for that insight. I had my suspicions about Macs. I hope in the 
future their accessibility is resolved but I'll keep to my Window Eyes on a 
PC. I just purchased an HP laptop at Costco for $800 and it has a number 
keypad built into the unit. I'll be upgrading to Windows 7 in a few weeks. I 
am hopeful about this new operating system but only within reason.

Best,

 Chad

Chad Allen Magic
www.chadallenmagic.com




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Mac with Voice Over


>I bought a Mac Mini about a year ago to give voiceover a try. Voiceover has 
>a fantastic, human sounding voice. Response time is pretty good. But even 
>though it is integrated into the operating system, voiceover doesn't work 
>with all MacOS applications. And it takes way more keystrokes to use than 
>does jaws.
>
> Switching to a Mac comes with a steep learning curve. You will be trying 
> to learn both a new operating system and a new screen reader at the same 
> time. Be prepared for some frustration and don't give up your old machine. 
> You will need it to google for answers on how to do things in Mac OS and 
> voiceover.
>
> I wouldn't try to switch to a Mac unless you have some compelling reason 
> to do so. If you're starting from scratch and have to learn the operating 
> system and the screen reader anyway, it might be a good idea to start with 
> a Mac. But I have a compelling reason to try to learn to use a Mac. I do 
> support for the Math Department at the University of Wisconsin and a lot 
> of professors use Macs. I had to learn to use a Mac to do my job. Even so, 
> I found it a laborious and difficult process. If I hadn't been so highly 
> motivated, I think I'd have given up.
>
> IMO, jaws is still considerably ahead of any of the free screen readers 
> (although I have not tried system access). There's no way to compare them 
> in terms of value because it depends on what you want or need. At $700, is 
> jaws a better value than voiceover is for free? It's impossible to say. I 
> would even say that comparing voiceover with nvda or orca is impossible 
> because it depends on what you want in a screen reader.  In other words, 
> if you want a simple answer like, "Yes, by all means, switch to a Mac 
> because its better," you will be disappointed. And I'd be suspicious of 
> anyone who give you such a simple answer.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Amelia Dickerson" <ameliadickerson at gmail.com>
> To: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 6:32 PM
> Subject: [nfb-talk] Mac with Voice Over
>
>
>>I wonder about the experiences people have had with Mac and Snow
>> Leopard. I am solidly a PC user and don't want to give up any of the
>> computer access that has come over the years. However, I am trying to
>> figure specifically what people have found that they can and cannot do
>> on a Mac. Can you use Open Book on it? What else is your experience?
>> It is pretty awesome to think of a screen reader coming with an OS.
>> --
>> Amelia Dickerson
>>
>> What counts can't always be counted, and what can be counted doesn't
>> always count.
>> Albert Einstein
>>
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>>
>
>
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