I'll stay at least until the list decides whether I can help with a wiki or not.
We don't keep outsiders for long. We had Peter Korn post once! I expect to drop off in the fall.
Your reference would have been very handy, can I link to that in an update?
Please do. Also feel free to mirror it. The domain is fragile, and Adelphia keeps pissing me off. I plan to move the content to the BlindTech Wiki. The keystrokes are in your Mac Help system, but still don't seem to be available on Apple's support web site.
With regards to previous experience [snip]
Most people who are comfortable with the Mac are not comfortable with the keystrokes. For what it is worth, people switching from OS 9 have as much difficultly as people switching from Windows.
it seems that going through the install process with VO was probably the first step we should have taken.
Yes. Again, kudos to you for being open minded about the whole experience, and not overconfident with your initial impression.
My fingers are also crossed for leopard, although I'd prefer to uncross them and prod the right person...
Apple is notorious for knowing better than their users. Prod away.
I would put myself in the "pretending to use JAWs" camp
Me too. I have been working full time in AT since 1989 and at least peripherally aware of Macs since 1987. It was only in the last few years that I started to appreciate how limited is my understanding of using a screen reader. I don't trust my opinion of VoiceOver, but I do trust the the opinions expressed here on MacVisionaries.
I would always check with a real user before making any decisions that would affect the experience.
I must caution you that your current practice may not quite thorough enough.
I'm interested in the control for unix stuff, option for extended characters. Is there some further reading on that?
Sure! I am so happy to be writing for a wiki rather than a listserv! http://blindtechs.net/wiki/index.php/Modifier_keys
