Leopard first looks: Universal Access VoiceOver changes are the center of improvements to OS X¹s accessibility By Christopher Breen
Editor¹s Note: In order to familiarize you with the next major version of Mac OS X, code-named Leopard, we¹re taking a closer look at each of the features Apple has unveiled. This installment focuses on the enhanced version of VoiceOver that makes up part of OS X 10.5¹s Universal Accessibility capabilities. http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/firstlooks/leovoiceover/index.php Article Below: When Apple introduced Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, it included a new element to Universal Access, the suite of utilities for users with physical impairments. That new element, VoiceOver, would recite the name of any onscreen items you hovered your mouse over using one of Apple¹s robotic text-to-speech voices. The version of the VoiceOver utility that will ship with OS X 10.5 appears to be quite similar to the original Tiger version, but with some important improvementssupport for Braille displays and note takers, control over the amount of information VoiceOver recites, easier navigation, and a new computer voice that speaks in a more natural way. How it works VoiceOver uses tools built into the Mac OS to communicate to users what their Mac is doing. Specifically, it uses OS X¹s built in Accessibility Hierarchy data structure that represents the user interface. When you switch VoiceOver on, it looks for the name of objects users interact withbuttons, fields, and menus, for exampleand speaks the name of the selected item (and its environmentthe name of its host application and enclosing window, for examplewhen it¹s first called). What¹s changed Apple has provided precious few details on Universal Access¹ new capabilities, so our knowledge is sketchy. Here¹s what we¹ve been able to glean from this week¹s WWDC keynote, plus other information gleaned from Apple. The original iteration of VoiceOver tends to offer more information than most people needreciting the name of an application, its window, the name of a tab within that window, and where that tab stands in the window¹s order of tabs (Tab 3 of 4, for example). Apple¹s Leopard Sneak Peek page devoted to Accessibility hints that VoiceOver can be configured to supply more or less audio feedbackreciting the name of a button, for example, but not its status. That same Sneak Peek page also suggests that the Mac OS will be easier to navigate thanks to VoiceOver¹s ability to navigate either sequentiallyfrom the topmost button to a field to its rightor by objectquickly dashing from one button to the next, skipping other objects in between. What¹s new Leopard¹s VoiceOver will support Grade 2 contracted Braille devices. Such devices include displays that communicate through a silicone ribbon or pad that changes shape to mimic traditional braille characters as well as note-takers, devices that include special braille keyboards. Plug one of these Grade 2 devices into the USB port of a Mac running Leopard, and it should work out of the box, allowing both braille input and output. The ³Wow² feature for most users will be the inclusion of Apple¹s new Alex voice, a synthesized English voice that sounds far more natural than what Apple has offered previously. There¹s a sample of the voice on the Sneak Peek page linked above. The brief sample shows that not only can Alex use punctuation in a natural-sounding way, he prefaces new thoughts with a short breath, which lends a nice realism to his speech. During the keynote presentation, Steve Jobs demonstrated that the Alex voice remains clearly understandable even when sped up to move more quickly through text. This voice will be available not only in VoiceOver but in any application that users Apple¹s text-to-speech capabilitiesTextEdit and iChat, for example. Leopard is also slated to support foreign language speech synthesizers, including support for two-byte languages such as Japanese and Chinese. And you¹ll be able to sync your VoiceOver preferences with other Macs through your .Mac account. Who¹s it for Query the typical Mac user, and they¹ll likely tell you that they weren¹t aware of VoiceOver¹s existence. There¹s very little about the new version of VoiceOver that¹s going to change that. Those with physical impairments will laud its improvements. Those who don¹t require VoiceOver¹s services may still be tempted to have their Mac read to them now that it contains a voice that¹s worth listening to. What¹s missing We¹ve seen nothing of the VoiceOver interface so there¹s no telling just how configurable its audio feedback will be. Apple¹s revealed enough about the Alex voice to assure us that it will be just another choice in the list of synthesized voice, which you¹ll be able to select from the Text to Speech tab within the Speech system preference. What it means For those with physical impairments VoiceOver has been a great, and inexpensive, help; third-party add-ons that provided VoiceOver¹s services cost several thousand dollars. But the original VoiceOver tends to be a little verbose. Allowing users to tell VoiceOver to cut to the chase will make using the program less tedious. Physically impaired or not, users driven to distraction by Apple¹s robotic voice often turned to the more natural synthesized voices offered by Cepstral. The existence of Alex is going to make these voices unnecessary for a number of people. It¹s also likely to nudge those who wouldn¹t have dreamt of using a talking Mac to see what a Mac running Leopard has to say. [Senior Editor Christopher Breen wrote about Tiger¹s Universal Accessibility features in the Tiger preview from the July 2005 issue of Macworld.]
