Please guys, I have been following this thread with interest. It is being debated in a very civilised manner, with arguments for and against both Apple and Microsoft products. As I use both, I find it helpful to know the various issues people are having in accordance with this list, so please feel free to continue as it is interesting and helpful in some ways.
Kind regards, Jackie Brown Twitter: @thebrownsplace -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gordon Smith Sent: 22 July 2013 19:59 To: Mac OSX & iOS Accessibility Subject: Re: State of Apple Accessibility (was: Re: Logic Pro X accessibility:the view from Cupertino) Chris I agree with your comments regarding Office products and I did try to make that clear in a previous post. There are issues with VoiceOver, Pages and possibly OS X in general which I do find frustrating. Yes, I think it would be good if Apple could do something about these issues. But as you rightly say it isn't all their fault. I frequently need to use Word documents and am just beginning to have to use spreadsheets. So, why can't you use Tables for your spreadsheets? Is there some issue which Tables cannot handle either? Yes, I agree to an extent that the cry of "Accessibility out of the box" has to end somewhere with Apple and VoiceOver. Yes, it would be great to see PDF documents work as well under OS X as they do under Windows. As I'm sure you know there is a war going on between Apple and Adobe. From memory this started when Apple refused to permit Flash on the iOS platform. Actually I have a copy of DreamWeaver CS5.5 for Windows, and have never got it to work yet. But that's another issue. Maybe we should continue this off list. I share most of John's views regarding accessibility but I do also agree with your comments regarding the Office situation. That said, Apple could just as easily turn around and say it isn't incumbent upon them to support something which a competitor is doing just because it's widely used. Whether or not you agree with that is really not important. But Apple could opt to made a stand here and, over time, we may see a shift in the way offices work. But I think that shift is some way off as yet. However, all we can really do is encourage Apple to improve. Like many on list, I love my Macs and will never go back to Windows for most of my leisure activities with one exception, broadcasting. To my knowledge, there is no really professional product out there for Mac oS. Zulu DJ and DJay4 are more designed with club DJ's in mind than radio presenters and it really shows. There is one option in DJay4 which the authors suggest "Could" be used for short jingles and trails, for example. But it still doesn't cut it. you have to have an iTunes library to use either of those products, which means that you have no option but to maintain your use of iTunes. The only really professional-looking product out there for the Mac is "Mebgaset Pro". But sadly, that application is, with the exception of keyboard shortcuts, totally inaccessible to VoiceOver and even it relies on your iTunes library. So sadly there is nothing out there which comes close to meeting those needs. Anyway, I take your points Chris but I urge you to stay with it, as I am convinced that change is just around the corner. As for requiring more than the basicsm, as do I. But that said, unless you pay an arm and a leg, I'm not so sure that's much more than basic editing out there for Windows either. Kind regards <--- Gordon Smith ---> <[email protected]> Telephone: United Kingdom: Free Phone: 0800 8620538 Mobile: +44 7907 823971 Europe and other non-specified: +44 1642 688095 United States Of America And Canada: +1 646 9151493 Or: +1 209 436 9443 Vic. Australia: +61 38 8205930 Vic. Australia +61 39 0284505 Fax: +44 1642 365123 Follow Us On Twitter: <http://twitter.com/maciosaccess> Skype: <skype:mac-access-dot-net?call> ------------------------------ On 22 Jul 2013, at 19:38, Chris Moore <[email protected]> wrote: > > Apple's hardware is not for debate here, it is second to none and there is nothing on the pC side that even comes close to the Mac line in my opinion. Yes, Apple did us a huge favour in bringing build in accessibility. Does it have to end there though? > > The majority of falling PC sales are due to the increased interest in tablets and large screen phones. Macs still fortunately have their loyal customers, and you have to add that the Macbook Air is a wonderful laptop to own to run both Windows and OS X. We actually have those laptops to run Windows on. As an organisation we would not consider the mac for much else, as Microsoft office accessibility is just not there (and this is not solely down to Apple). > > Is it so wrong to expect more from Apple? we pay for the hardware and software and come on, it is 2013! Windows is fortunate to have various screen readers, the Mac only has one, so why can't it support high end products and enable more productivity? > > I guess I require more from my Mac, than just using Skype, Text Edit and basic audio editing. <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something unpredictable happen. Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something unpredictable happen. Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
