I've received comments and feedback from a few of you as a result of this thread, and I really do appreciate the information and comments. I apologize for my less-than-tactful reply to Greg's email, and hope that VoiceOver users continue to let me know how they use the product. Supporting the Mac Accessibility API is a substantial engineering effort, and I need to be able to back up the request with compelling data since this feature request competes with other requests due to finite resources.
Just to make more of the email thread between Greg and myself public - Greg replied: <GregReply1> I must beg to differ about VoiceOver on a couple of points. My wife is totally bind and uses VoiceOver daily for all of her computing need. I could put you in contact with many more blind users of Mac as well. Have you worked with the latest version of VoiceOver? Further VoiceOver is also used by dyslexics such as myself and dyslexics use Macintosh almost exclusively so dyslexic users would impose the cross platform rule even if the blind did not. Under Australian law dyslexics have the same rights to demand accessibility as the blind do. Also VoiceOver is used by some with motor disorders such as Parkinson's they too have similar rights under the DDA. I would urge Adobe to reconsider this. VoiceOver is only bound to be more improved over time, it supports braille displays better now than any windows option. The cost advantage over windows solutions is substantial. </GregReply1> In response, I sent the following: <AndrewReply1> I am aware that the various users who may use screen reading software > such as VoiceOver may not be blind, and certainly I am not suggesting > that such users should not have access. > > I'm happy to discuss how your spouse makes use of VoiceOver - I'm > pleased to hear that she is, although your report differs from what I > have heard in other quarters, so I'm interested to learn what works > well and what needs improvement about the tool. </AndrewReply1> To which he replied: <GregReply2> Well I'm the first to admit that VoiceOVer needs improvement. As the co-author of the Louis braille translator I am in contact contact with Apple about issues I find. Both my wife, who is blind and myself use VoiceOVer on a daily basis. In my wife's case she uses it for routine computing tasks such as email, web browsing, instant messaging and such. She has not as yet found anything which she is unable to perform. She uses a braille display quite extensively. Of course she is living the in the same house with a VoiceOver trainer. But still there is little, out side of Flash content that she had not been able to access with it. One point with should be made is that I advise people to download and install WebKit as it corrects several VoiceOver bugs which the released version of Safari has not yet implemented. That and the use of Spark will give features needed by the blind. One aspect of VoiceOver that differs from window screen readers such as Jaws is that VoiceOVer does not replace OS functionality with it's own but rather give the user tools which non-visual or non-readers might need. In VoiceOVer the user should still understand the basics of Macintosh functionality. </GregReply2> Andrew Kirkpatrick Senior Product Manager, Accessibility Adobe Systems [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
