James and all,
I think the main problem for you, James, is exactly what Buddy said
earlier. You need to unlearn what you know from Jaws or Window-
Eyes. Interacting with controls seems awkward at first, I agree. I
said the same thing. However, over time you will find that the
ability to fly across a window, getting a glimpse of all the controls
and only interacting with the content of the ones you want will
actually save time. For example, you compared using VO to using the
Jaws cursor all the time...if you were using the Jaws cursor to
navigate a Window, you would have no idea it was over a list view.
None at all. All you would hear was a jumble mess of the text
presented in that list view. With the Voiceover cursor, you hear
"Table," and you know right away what it is, and can decide whether
or not to look at it. And, if you are moving focus around with
keyboard commands like Tab, you don't need to interact at all with
the control, VoiceOver does do that automatically. You just need to
learn the program and the OS more thoroughly.
Web site navigation is very different than with Jaws or Window-Eyes,
but once you take the time to become proficient with it, it is quite
good. I am a power computer user, and a developer of Windows
software, and after only two years of Mac usage I am far more
proficient on it than I ever was in more than a dozen years of using
Windows. It's more comfortable and more intuitive to me, but I had
to step away from thinking that the only way was the Jaws way.
Another place where your logic doesn't add up is here, as Jaws and
Window-Eyes both require you to go in and out of browse/Virtual PC
modes to enter and minipulate form data. This is not the case with
VO, which automatically allows you to start entering information in
web forms. And, I have done no special settings to Safari outside of
telling it that Tab should navigate links, so that Option-Tab
navigates form controls.
I've used a ton of screen readers over the years. VoiceOver is
excellent, but you have to take the time to learn it. The major
drawback for some with the Mac at present is the lack of spreadsheet
applications, but I think we're very close to having that solved for
us too. The only thing I use Windows for these days, is to
program...and I'm well on my wey to learning how to develop full Mac
apps now as well.
None of this means VoiceOver is perfect. It has its shortfalls just
like Window-Eyes or Jaws, but I think your complaints are primarily
due to just not being familiar with how VoiceOver works as yet.
Josh de Lioncourt
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
...my other mail provider is an owl...
