[access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New VoiceOver features
- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:07:15 -0000
Very interesting experiences you've related there Jackie.
Having met a few media types I know all too well how committed they
are to Macs. (that's putting it politely though. there's a very
exclusive club you have to belong to in those circles to prove your
validity or even virility, (LOL).
To get one thing out of the way though, Apples under OS X do seem to
be very stable and don't appear to throw too many woblies. The
integration of hardware and software is far more under control with
Macs than it has ever been with the traditionally open architecture of
the PC.
If you pay enough for a well put together PC though, the stability
issues can be near negligible. (You'll be spending as much as you
would on a Mac going for such a machine, but many are made, especially
for audio and video work.) Still, a further problem Windows faces is
poorly behaved software, and MS itself is too often guilty of this.
Desktop publishing is no longer the exclusive domain of the Mac and
hasn't been for a long time, in spite of the pretensions of media
folk. Not only that, but you can get very respectable free DTP
software for the PC which no one but an out and out snob would dismiss
out of hand.
DTP though has never been an area where VI people could hope to have
proper access as by its nature it is unavoidably graphical in what it
does and the way it does it. The most important thing, I would have
said, is being able to contribute properly to publications that are
going to be used in a layout program. No doubt smaller outfits do
depend on individuals knowing the DTP business, but in larger
structured business, I'd have thought division of labour in this area
is what happens.
From Ray
I can be contacted off-list at:
mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
Jackie Cairns
Because of doing my course at the time, and the fact everybody kept
telling
me that DTP was much better on a Mac, we got a shot of a Mac to play
with at
home with what I can only describe as terrible speech software. Oh
boy was
it not half a steep learning curve!! (big smile.)
I was lucky in that my programme tutor was a great guy with a lot of
patience, and sometimes he'd speak me through some things on the Mac
in the
newsroom, just so I could try to understand the concept of what the
others
were doing. And some publishers gave me books in Mac format that I
needed
to access, which was a sort of incentive to get me to try to learn it.
But
I just couldn't get to grips with it, and I had so much stuff to do
anyway
with running the college newspaper and my own assignments that I
couldn't
devote the time it required.
Interestingly, after my tutor left, and I finished my course, I heard
the
college went over to PC full-time because nobody liked using the Mac,
despite its ability to be better for DTP and more reliable with its
OS.
Jackie
----- Original Message -----
From: "ari" <aridamoulakis@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 12:09 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New
VoiceOver features
> I'd heard of the whole Mac thing when I needed to get my laptop for
Uni a
> few months ago, but I was totally disappointed, because I went to
the MAC
> shop to try and look at Voiceover, and there was obviously noone
there who
> knew how it worked, my brother started it up for me, but we just
didn't
> know how to access help and stuff properly. I probably could have
tried
> harder, but the things that worry me about Voiceover are that you
just
> never know if it will always be updated properly or frequently,
although
> it's a great idea, you never know if Apple will just oneday not keep
it up
> to speed. Also, when I was looking round on the Internet for VO
resources,
> I did find a tutorial, but the main support is through a user group,
> correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't even know how many people,
or,
> if there are any blind people working at Apple on VO? There is no
address
> at Apple to which anyone can write if they have problems. With newer
web
> technologies and stuff coming out, you just hope that you're using
> software that the people who're developing do care about making it
work
> with such things. Itunes does work with VO, and apparrently Safari
and
> most things as well, but apparrently mac users need to go through
millions
> of keystrokes? I then decided that, considering the really high
price of a
> mac laptop, and the fact that I did have JAWS, I'd just buy a cheap
normal
> laptop instead. The Mac thing does have very positive stuff though,
in
> that you can just walk to any mac and use it without having to worry
about
> anything. Wish MS would make a propper Windows screenreader like
Apple,
> but then the whole argument of what happens if screenreader
companies go
> out of business and MS doesn't keep the reader uptodate would again
be a
> problem.
> Ari
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jackie Cairns" <cairnsplace@xxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 1:44 PM
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New
> VoiceOver features
>
>
>> If only this had been possible four or five years ago when I was
doing
>> journalism at college. The newsroom was full of Macs and the one
PC with
>> Windows 98 that I used to monopolise. Interestingly, all the
students
>> used to jump in my seat the minute I moved so they could use the PC
>> instead of their Macs because they hated them, and they were all
fully
>> sighted. I think they all used a PC at home and just couldn't get
to
>> grips with the Mac. So this big queue would form to get on my
machine,
>> and I couldn't venture anywhere without someone literally
hot-footing it
>> to my desk. All good fun.
>>
>> Jackie
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Graham Page" <gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 11:34 AM
>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New
>> VoiceOver features
>>
>>
>>> well Gordon it will be interesting to see how you go with this and
to
>>> see
>>> how others go as well. I would not be surprised to find more info
>>> appearing
>>> on ACB Radio's Main Menu or blindcooltec at some point when those
with
>>> some
>>> experience of the mac get hands on it. Altimately we will see
whether
>>> the
>>> hype reflects the real situation and whether once again, the Mac
can be
>>> described as anything like accessible and how far this
accessibility
>>> goes.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Graham
>>> Graham Page
>>> Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
>>> Mobile: 07753 607980
>>> Fax: 0870 706 2773
>>> Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Skype: gabriel_mcbird
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Gordon Keen" <gordon.keen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 11:16 AM
>>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's
New
>>> VoiceOver features
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Ray
>>> I can confirm that the mac-book works very happily as a dual boot
>>> machine
>>> and I have been running it for about three or four months using
hal as
>>> the
>>> screen reader.
>>> Next week end I shall be upgrading to leopard and weaning myself
off the
>>> dreaded microsludge.
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards
>>> Gordon
>>> From glorious Devon, England
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf
>>> Of
>>> Ray's Home
>>> Sent: 29 October 2007 10:44
>>> To: Access-Uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Subject: [access-uk] Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New
>>> VoiceOver
>>> features
>>>
>>> Hope you find this interesting, as I do. A few comments after
news of
>>> Leopard's new Voice Over features.
>>>
>>> VoiceOver info.
>>>
>>> Universal Access
>>>
>>> Alex - A New Voice Give yourself a new voice. Meet Alex - a new
>>> English male voice that uses advanced,
>>> patented Apple technologies to deliver natural breathing and
>>> intonation, even at
>>> fast speaking rates.
>>>
>>> Plug-and-Play Refreshable Braille Display Support Quickly set up
>>> popular, refreshable Braille displays. VoiceOver detects and
>>> configures
>>> as soon as you plug them in. No additional software or setup is
>>> required.
>>>
>>> Braille Output During OS Installation For the first time ever on a
>>> desktop computer, you can use a Braille display while
>>> installing or upgrading your operating system.
>>>
>>> The Braille Panel See a virtual Braille display - a visual
>>> representation of VoiceOver Braille output
>>> onscreen along with an English text translation.
>>>
>>> Customisable Braille Display Input Keys Customise a Braille
display
>>> more easily than ever before. Just choose a VoiceOver
>>> command, then press and hold the input keys. A tone sounds to let
you
>>> know the command has been assigned successfully.
>>>
>>> Contracted and Non-Contracted Braille Output Braille in standard
>>> contracted format or non-contracted "computer Braille".
>>> VoiceOver automatically converts contracted Braille under the
cursor
>>> so it's easier
>>> to edit, then contracts it again when the cursor moves.
>>>
>>> NumPad Commander Control VoiceOver using only the numeric keypad
just
>>> like JAWS and Windows-Eyes.
>>> This makes it easier for screen reader users to switch from a PC
to a
>>> Mac and provides easy access to your favourite VoiceOver commands.
>>>
>>> Portable VoiceOver Preferences Instantly reconfigure your
VoiceOver
>>> preferences. Just plug in a flash drive containing
>>> your preferences and Leopard instantly reconfigures to work and
act
>>> just like your Mac - without leaving a trace when you leave.
>>>
>>> Faster Web and Page Navigation Quickly navigate long documents or
web
>>> pages. Jump to key elements like headers,
>>> tables and links and by text attributes like underlining, bold,
>>> italics and colour - even text phrases.
>>>
>>> Hot Spots Monitor up to ten different areas onscreen and be
alerted
>>> when there's a change.
>>> Then jump directly to any hot spot to investigate or take action.
>>>
>>> Drag-and-Drop Support Use drag-and-drop actions by keyboard only,
in
>>> accessible applications.
>>>
>>> Integrated Interactive Tutorial Learn VoiceOver unassisted in a
safe
>>> environment. A built-in tutorial lets you practice
>>> as you learn.
>>>
>>> Misspelled Word Detection Hear when a word is misspelled while
reading
>>> text. Choose a tone or a spoken description.
>>> Positional Audio Effects Benefit from many new sound effects in
>>> VoiceOver. Audio cues provide an improved
>>> sense of location.
>>>
>>> Highlight by Word or Sentence Set the VoiceOver cursor to
highlight
>>> each word or sentence being read as it is spoken.
>>>
>>> New VoiceOver Utility Customise VoiceOver more easily. A new
VoiceOver
>>> Utility layout includes many new
>>> options and preferences for customising VoiceOver.
>>>
>>> Improved Application Accessibility Do more with VoiceOver. Bundled
>>> Leopard applications and utilities have been enhanced
>>> for improved accessibility.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (Ray back again)
>>> I'm thinking now seriously of doing the switch, and possibly going
for
>>> a dual boot equiped Apple, so not leaving Windows behind entirely.
>>> This seems to work better than many might think it does.
>>>
>>> Given Vista's fearsome reputation so far, and some prety draconian
>>> measures around DRM to boot, I wonder seriously if the Apple
shouldn't
>>> be given a serious look. Not that I know for certain the Apple
will
>>> be imune from the media industry's inroads on what we can do.
(No,
>>> I'm not an ilegal sharer or anything, but I do use my PC for a lot
of
>>> audio work these days.)
>>>
>>> Those thoughts apart, hope the above was of interest.
>>>
>>> Cheers,,
>>> From Ray
>>> I can be contacted off-list at:
>>> mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
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