Ray, the problem was that most of the youngsters didn't know how to convert Mac files into PC format I think. At that time, it was an older Mac OS, so maybe the filters weren't as good as they perhaps are now. Either way, it was a whole lot of fun when they got themselves tied up with it.
My tutor even got the Mac talking for a bit for me, but it wasn't accessible enough to do any work on it, and certainly nothing meaningful where Quark was concerned. The best work-around for me was having a guy from the Graphics department come in when I needed to do newspaper layout. With my tactile diagrams of my newspapers and his eyes, I was able to tell him what I wanted and where I wanted it to go, and he did it. The Scottish Qualifications Authority allowed me to pass my units for DTP and Newspaper Design and Production that way, and I'll always be indebted to the chap who did the business for me under my instructions.
Jackie It's an interesting set of issues though. Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 1:35 PMSubject: [access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New VoiceOver features
Very practical issues you bring up here Jackie. Mind you, I had thought that swapping files between Macs and PCs wasn't all that problematic these days; or have I been reading the Apple Hype too much? I'm fairly sure you can exchange between .wav and .AIFF in the audio field. This does of course get us away from access issues in the context of this list, but its a consideration nonetheless if you are contemplating buying a Mac. From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- Jackie Cairns Ray, I agree with you. The DTP software they all used at college was Quark, but even the PC equivalent was a dead loss to me. But I had some lovely folk who helped me out with a few great work-arounds, and coupled with my obsessive determination to get my HND, I cracked it, Mac or no Mac, DTP software or no DTP software. I believe the story behind why they went for Macs in the first place is that they bought some in bulk cheaper than they could get the same specs on a PC. But the students argued that if they worked on the newspaper or assignments within the newsroom confines using a Mac, they couldn't then go home and open the same documents using their PC. This was where I had sympathy for them, because I never had that difficulty. In the end, I was lucky in that I worked alongside a young bunch of fully sighted students who helped me out sometimes, and who I could help out too. I think it was the happiest three years I ever spent doing anything (smile.) Jackie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 1:07 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Time to do the Apple Switch? Leopard's New VoiceOver featuresVery 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 architectureofthe 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,especiallyfor audio and video work.) Still, a further problem Windows facesispoorly 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 woulddismissout 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 whatitdoes 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 thisareais 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 learnit.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, Iheardthe college went over to PC full-time because nobody liked using theMac,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 featuresI'd heard of the whole Mac thing when I needed to get my laptop forUni afew months ago, but I was totally disappointed, because I went tothe MACshop to try and look at Voiceover, and there was obviously noonethere whoknew how it worked, my brother started it up for me, but we justdidn'tknow how to access help and stuff properly. I probably could havetriedharder, but the things that worry me about Voiceover are that youjustnever know if it will always be updated properly or frequently,althoughit's a great idea, you never know if Apple will just oneday notkeepit upto speed. Also, when I was looking round on the Internet for VOresources,I did find a tutorial, but the main support is through a usergroup,correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't even know how manypeople,or,if there are any blind people working at Apple on VO? There is noaddressat Apple to which anyone can write if they have problems. Withnewerwebtechnologies and stuff coming out, you just hope that you're using software that the people who're developing do care about making itworkwith such things. Itunes does work with VO, and apparrently Safariandmost things as well, but apparrently mac users need to go throughmillionsof keystrokes? I then decided that, considering the really highprice of amac laptop, and the fact that I did have JAWS, I'd just buy a cheapnormallaptop instead. The Mac thing does have very positive stuffthough,inthat you can just walk to any mac and use it without having toworryaboutanything. Wish MS would make a propper Windows screenreader likeApple,but then the whole argument of what happens if screenreadercompanies goout of business and MS doesn't keep the reader uptodate would againbe aproblem. 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 featuresIf only this had been possible four or five years ago when I wasdoingjournalism at college. The newsroom was full of Macs and the onePC withWindows 98 that I used to monopolise. Interestingly, all thestudentsused to jump in my seat the minute I moved so they could use thePCinstead of their Macs because they hated them, and they were allfullysighted. I think they all used a PC at home and just couldn't gettogrips with the Mac. So this big queue would form to get on mymachine,and I couldn't venture anywhere without someone literallyhot-footing itto 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'sNewVoiceOver featureswell Gordon it will be interesting to see how you go with thisandtosee how others go as well. I would not be surprised to find moreinfoappearing on ACB Radio's Main Menu or blindcooltec at some point when thosewithsome experience of the mac get hands on it. Altimately we will seewhetherthe hype reflects the real situation and whether once again, the Maccan bedescribed as anything like accessible and how far thisaccessibilitygoes. 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'sNewVoiceOver 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 usinghal asthe screen reader. Next week end I shall be upgrading to leopard and weaning myselfoff thedreaded microsludge. Regards Gordon From glorious Devon, England -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] OnBehalfOf 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 afternews ofLeopard'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 onadesktop 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 Brailledisplaymore easily than ever before. Just choose a VoiceOver command, then press and hold the input keys. A tone sounds to letyouknow 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 thecursorso it's easier to edit, then contracts it again when the cursor moves. NumPad Commander Control VoiceOver using only the numeric keypadjustlike JAWS and Windows-Eyes. This makes it easier for screen reader users to switch from a PCto aMac and provides easy access to your favourite VoiceOvercommands.Portable VoiceOver Preferences Instantly reconfigure yourVoiceOverpreferences. Just plug in a flash drive containing your preferences and Leopard instantly reconfigures to work andactjust like your Mac - without leaving a trace when you leave. Faster Web and Page Navigation Quickly navigate long documents orwebpages. 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 bealertedwhen 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,inaccessible applications. Integrated Interactive Tutorial Learn VoiceOver unassisted in asafeenvironment. A built-in tutorial lets you practice as you learn. Misspelled Word Detection Hear when a word is misspelled whilereadingtext. 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 tohighlighteach word or sentence being read as it is spoken. New VoiceOver Utility Customise VoiceOver more easily. A newVoiceOverUtility layout includes many new options and preferences for customising VoiceOver. Improved Application Accessibility Do more with VoiceOver.BundledLeopard applications and utilities have been enhanced for improved accessibility. (Ray back again) I'm thinking now seriously of doing the switch, and possiblygoingfora dual boot equiped Apple, so not leaving Windows behindentirely.This seems to work better than many might think it does. Given Vista's fearsome reputation so far, and some pretydraconianmeasures around DRM to boot, I wonder seriously if the Appleshouldn'tbe given a serious look. Not that I know for certain the Applewillbe 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 alotofaudio work these days.) Those thoughts apart, hope the above was of interest. 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