At 1:47 +0000 15/3/06, Will Thoms wrote:
God I wish a 3rd party developer would produce a screen reader for the Mac that was actually good and had updates.
Will, I do not expect a third party to do something like that because of the following reasons:
1) Apple developed VoiceOver because none of the third parties were really interested to do it.
2) A third party would run into the same limitations that VoiceOver does, namely applications that do not provide the necessary accessibility (including as you all know, some of Apple's own applications. On Windows and Mac OS 9 all kinds of dirty tricks were possible for screen readers to make things work in inaccessible applications. On Mac OS X that is harder, more dangerous, and would also be the end of any stimulus for thrid-party developers to make their applications more accessible. I am sure a large part of the issues you have with VoiceOver are not really VoiceOver's fault.
3) Making a screen reader and compete with Apple's free screen reader that is based on inside access to Mac OS X developments would be a pretty tough call for a third-party. I mean how many of you would want to pay $500 to $1000 for something like that?
Finally, I do not agree with your statement that Apple does not provide updates. I am sure there will be an update to VoiceOver with 10.5 and that it will take into account the most popular criticisms on the current version (but as always, not all).
david. -- -------------------------------------------------------------- David Niemeijer, CTO AssistiveWare(R) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.assistiveware.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------
