[nfbcs] Mac Accessibility

[E.J. Zufelt]

See my responses inline below.


Everett

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On 28-May-09, at 12:35 AM, 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?
>
Fairly steep.  Voiceover operates oppositely to JAWS and Window Eyes,  
but it is nice when you get used to it.
>

> 2. Is Firefox available to the Mac environment, and are there any
> limitations to the browser in this environment?
> No, firefox is currently not accessible on the Mac with Voiceover.

> 3. What general limitations have you discovered using Mac moving  
> from the
> PC?
>
Voiceover is not scriptable, there is no way to tweak the  
accessibility of an application.  There is no word processor hat  
supports tables.

> 4. Is Voice Over built into the Mac system.  If not, how much is it,  
> and
> where is it found?
>
Voiceover is built into the Mac operating system and gets updated as  
you update your operating system.

> 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?
>
Voiceover is updated when the OS is updated, but I'm not sure how many  
features actually get updated, there is no real list of new features /  
bug fixes that I have ever found.  In my opinion Voicover sounds nicer  
than Eloquence, but has a harder time pronouncing words.
>

> 6. How easy is it to exchange documents between PC and Mac machines?
> Very easy via memory stick or e-mail.  You can also setup your Mac  
> to dual boot Windows.  Or, you can run Windows in a virtual machine  
> on the Mac, essentially running each operating system  
> simultaneously.  On a newer Mac there is no significant performance  
> problem running OS X and Windows simultaneously.



> 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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