[nfbcs] [nabs-l] Basic Questions About Mac versus Pc

Mon May 10 19:49:02 UTC 2010

1. Is there context-sensitive help for applications?

2. Can you describe the Internet navigation features?  If you have
previously used JAWS before, are there comparable features like bring up a
list of links, activating mouse over links, using Flash buttons, accessible
favorites list, etc?

Thanks,

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Gabe Vega
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 4:24 AM
To: 'NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] [nabs-l] Basic Questions About Mac versus Pc

I use transmit daily. And ICal is accessible. Next question? 

Gabe Vega A+, Net+, ATACP
The Tech of all Techs
(623) 565-9357

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Joe Orozco
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 5:11 PM
To: 'NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] [nabs-l] Basic Questions About Mac versus Pc

Hi Steve,

I am the only PC user in our operation.  Two disadvantages that come to mind
is that the office-wide calendars for the various departments do not play
well with my Outlook.  Also, they have a program called (Transmit?) which
makes exchanging documents via our public shared drive a lot easier than my
sluggish way of opening FlashFXP, uploading, downloading, etc.  I tell you
it's tempting, but if tomorrow I lose my job I also wonder if the overhaul
would have been worth it.  I have no reason to believe I'd lose my job mind
you, but in today's economy nothing outside the government sector seems
certain and Apple machines are more expensive than their PC counterparts.
Decisions, decisions.

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 12:15 AM
To: NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] [nabs-l] Basic Questions About Mac versus Pc

Joe,

I am not a MAC user, at least not at this point, but I definitely am one who
takes it seriously.  In the end, though, I think there is much to be gained
by remaining as consistent as you can be with your co-workers in terms of
the platform you use.  Clearly, if your workers use Windows and one of the
major apps they use is not very accessible and the MAC version of the same
app is much more accessible, you should give it a very good look.  If your
co-workers are using MACS and the apps they use seem to be pretty
accessible, it would seem worth going with a MAC unles you found the same
apps were much more accessible on a Windows machine.  
However, going it alone on the job with either platform puts you at a
disadvantage.

I am still not convinced, although I am more than willing to listen, that it
is worth going with a MAC if your job site makes heavy use of Microsoft
Office, particularly if you will also be authoring or modifying documents.
I know that Open Office can handle Microsoft Office files, but if things get
complicated, there are just always oddities that come to the surface.  I
just experienced that very thing with a document my daughter wrote in Open
Office on the MAC and saved in Word format.  Something when wrong with the
formatting in a big way. 
 Was there a cause and could it have been corrected in general, probably,
but it took time and would have taken more time to investigate than we had
just then.  Again, if you were to establish that your productivity was much
better with Open Office in this particular example, it may overcome the
potential pitfalls, but you again run a risk of not having the support of
your jobs IT or help desk staff.  This example could be turned around, too,
meaning that using Microsoft Office if your employer uses MACs and Open
Office is also probably not a good idea if you find Open Office to work
pretty well for you.  In most cases here, we're talking about document
compatibility with other co-workers.  TextEdit on the MAC is far more than a
text editor and is a decent word processor and it is free and very good for
most personal use.  Some compare it with WordPad, but I believe that is not
really a fair comparison, it has more power.  I just think that consistency
with your co-workers has to be a major consideration, whichever platform
they use, as long as the apps being used are accessible.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

>On May 8, 2010, at 11:46 AM, Joe Orozco wrote:

>> Hello all,
>> 
>> I keep hearing about all these wonderful things about Macs.  
I was very
>> interested in the iPad review on Access World, and my
employer's offer to
>> switch out my PC for a Mac just gets more tempting by the
moment.  Still, as
>> I get older I am less tolerant of drastic changes to my
office assembly, and
>> yet, temptations abound.
>> 
>> 1. In the most recent platform upgrade, how has the
accessibility changed in
>> terms of the screen reader?  Is the screen reader only
updated with system
>> upgrades, or are there ever updates between major upgrades?  
If you had to
>> compare Voiceover to JAWS, how does their functionality
break down?  I know
>> it's not fair to compare one to the other because the logic is a bit 
>> different, but I'm hoping you can speak to the level of
manipulation you
>> have over the applications in your computer.
>> 
>> 2. How has the compatibility changed in terms of Macs and
software packages?
>> I originally hesitated, because it seemed the industry was
more prone to be
>> compatible with PC products.
>> 
>> 3. How easy is it to control documents in the word
processor?  Do Macs use
>> their own version of MS Office, or is there a native word
processor that
>> makes Office documents readable?
>> 
>> 4. What can you tell us about their e-mail client?  Outlook
has its quirks
>> but is almost 100 percent accessible.  Sunbird, by contrast,
would be great
>> but in my opinion still had some accessibility shortcomings. 
 I'm wondering
>> if the same is true of iCal and Mac-based applications?
>> 
>> 5. How much freedom do you have with Macs to go outside of
iTunes?  I don't
>> much care for proprietary packages unless it's unavoidable.
>> 
>> 6. Are hardware repairs truly limited to Apple stores?
>> 
>> I know the best thing is to play around with Macs yourself.  
I intend to do
>> that when I visit our home office in California in a month,
but I'm hoping
>> those of you who are daily users of the system can give up-to-date 
>> information since reviews can quickly become outdated.  And,
I'm sure that
>> even playing with a Mac for an hour or so would not truly
give me a sense of
>> how well they meet my daily task expectations.
>> 
>> Thanks for any information and/or website recommendations.
>> 
>> Best,
>> 
>> Joe
>> 
>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up
their sleeves,
>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>> 
>> 
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