Excellent post, Chris!!!
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Hofstader <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 7:56 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: pod cast 11, new features of voiceover now available


Hi,

This may sound like a non-sequitur as I was happy to let the podcast  
stream from the site.

First, I'd like to thank you for such a terrific podcast.  While I had  
read lists of "What's New," your demonstrations really drove a lot  
home and I'm using more of the new things already.

One item that I am very picky about, though, is the debate about the  
insertion point.  to start, always announcing the character, word or  
whatever to the right of the caret is not a "Windows" thing.  It was  
invented by Peter Korn in one of the really early versions of  
outSPOKEn - at that time, the only screen reader for Macintosh.   
Virtually all screen readers, on all OS, since have followed suit.

Now, let's pretend we are sighted.  If we are in the word cursor and  
the caret is between the "r" and the "s" and we move the insertion  
point by  using the right arrow the visual representation puts a  
blinking vertical line between the "s" and the "o."  So, is the caret   
to the right of the "s" (what was the default character to announce in  
Leopard) or is it to the left of the "o?"  there are three correct  
answers, it's to the right of the "s," it's to the left of the "o" and  
it's between the two.   A solution that claims some sort of primacy  
should either announce all three of the possibilities or select one  
which, keeping with tradition," would be the character to the right.

Why history is valuable here:  If we take a census of our VO mailing  
lists, I think we'll find that most people have used one or more other  
screen readers in the past.  Navigating text is about the most used  
task any of us have used before so, as Apple wants to attract new  
customers from the community of people with vision impairment, it is  
logical that the transition is made as easy as possible.  I'm not  
suggesting cloning JAWS but, rather, if *all* other screen readers do  
something one way and there is no real innovative reason for changing  
it, stick to what has worked in the past.

Ok, go ahead, put a picture of old cdh on the dartboard...

One other note on vocabulary in your podcast: you seemed to use the  
words "cursor" in the place of "caret."  The cursor is the thing the  
mous moves and the caret is the term used for the blinking item at the  
insertion point.

Ok, hear come the rotten tomatoes, I can't help it, I went to Harvard  
to graduate school in English and can't stop myself...

Happy Victor Gottbaum Day,
cdh

On Sep 6, 2009, at 3:35 PM, Keith Brown wrote:

>
> thanks for your help, unfortunately when i tried this the podcast just
> streamed from the net. i.e no download.
> Keith   6 Sep 2009, at 20:19, Robert Carter wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Assuming that you are using a Mac, when you are on the Blind Cool  
>> Tech
>> site and sitting on the link for Mike's podcast, press option+enter  
>> to
>> start the download.
>>
>> Robert Carter
>> On Sep 6, 2009, at 1:54 PM, Keith Brown wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> how can i download the podcast? when I click on it it just starts. I
>>> obviously don't mind listening, however, I would like to download it
>>> and take it away on another device. any help would bee appreciated.
>>>
>>> thanks
>>> Keith On 6 Sep 2009, at 17:00, Mike Argil wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hey everyone, ok, by popular request, smile, pod cast 11 is now on
>>>> blind cool tech. This one is dedicated to the new features of voice
>>>> over in snow leopard, here is the link.
>>>> http://media.libsyn.com/media/bct/bct1382NewFeaturesInVoiceOver.mp3
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>>>
>
>
> >






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