Very well said John,
I fully appreciate taht companies offering Screen readers such as Freedom
Scientific and GW Micro have very strong and usable products, but they are
not cost effective to the comsumer. And whilst Apple may not be up there
with them in terms of Screen Reading at the moment, the potential for such
as leap is great, and it is possible that Apple will surpass the likes of
these companies in the very near future. The suggested accessibility
improvements in Leopard are i think proof of that.
You are also right about the school situation with Windows and Apple
machines. Although I am still a Windows user i am slowly migrating all my
computing needs over to the Mac, but i do think that the Mac is easier to
navigate and use for many potential students not just blind students and
users than Windows.
I think a problem may be that everyone uses Windows, because Microsoft has
monopolised the market, and although Apple and Linnux are more stable etc,
people have grown up with Microsoft andd have heard negative things about
Apple etc. And so people are reluctant to change from what they know, but i
was glad i did.
Just my two cents worth
Take care
James
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Heim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS Xby
theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: Accessibility look at Vista
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) told Microsoft to *not* include
a screen reader in their operating system. There is Narrator which allows
you to get started but it's not something you can use to get your job
done. The NFB felt that including a screen reader in Windows would drive
companies like Freedom Scientific out of business and that Microsoft's
screen reader would be inferiour to existing screen readers like JAWS.
That seems like contradictory logic to me. But you know how it goes... If
the NFB tells Microsoft to not include a screen reader, they're not going
to. And after all, who knows if Microsoft really would have done it.
I argued on the NFB's list that Voiceover is proof of the invalidity of
the NFB's point of view.
Another thing I argued was that Apple might regain a toe-hold in schools
and colleges with Voiceover. Those institutions have to supply accessible
computers to students and a Mac with voiceover is a very cost effective
solution Instead of having a lab with 10 or 20 Windows machines and just 1
with JAWS installed, they can have 10 or 20 Macintoshes all of which are
usable by a blind student.
I wouldn't be surprised if someday Microsoft ignored the NFB and improved
their screen reader to a point where you can actually do your job with it.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Weir" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS X by
theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 10:34 PM
Subject: Re: Accessibility look at Vista
I am not much impressed. All that the article talks to is already done by
the MAC. Voice recognition has been there for some time and the enlarging
of letters and other items are all in VoiceOver. I didnt see anything
about screen readers. Vickie Weir
LARRY WANGER wrote:
Hi,
I ran across this article this evening and thought I'd share it. I know,
its a Mac list but some of the steps Microsoft is taking to incorperate
and promote accessibility are intreaguing. Now, we know Microsoft and
the hype is just that but it will be interesting to see this. Even more
interesting to see some of the other access improvements in Leopard and
where we end up.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/technology/story/B30BAA80C251A2D7862571E1006E85F9?OpenDocument
Visit my home page at http://www.disabilitynation.net and subscribe to
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