Hi Donna, Yes, the Macintosh comes with accessibility out of the box. In fact, you'll even get a nice message telling you how to turn it on when powering it on. If you buy a Macbook or a Macbook Pro, the newest models will have the trackpad which will work like the iPhone's or iPod Touch touch screen. Personally, I find it easier to use the iPhone or iPod touch screen to navigate. I find it pretty hard to navigate without having to interact with a gesture to see a table, though you can probably touch an item in the table. I never played with the trackpad a lot, though I do use it on occasion. I've been trying out iPhones for a little while, though I unfortunately do not have one. But they work great.
Regards, Nic Skype: Kvalme MSN Messenger: [email protected] AIM: cincinster yahoo Messenger: cin368 Facebook Profile My Twitter On Dec 5, 2009, at 5:23 AM, Donna Smith wrote: > Hi all. > > I am a long-time, frustrated Windows/Microsoft Office/JAWS user, and I > have recently become very intrigued with the possibility of switching > to a Mac, at least for personal use. My work duties are too tied to > being able to share files with colleagues in PowerPoint, Excel and > Word, and we're required to use Outlook calendar, etc., but personal > use is a different story. > > So please tell me if I understand correctly that an off-the-shelf Mac > laptop will be accessible via Voice Over for most typical functions? > I need the internet, e-mail, some kind of word processor, and I'm a > farily big user of Excel and am not sure what the comparable Mac > program might be. I understand that there is a learning curve to make > such a switch, but is it possible to do this without purchasing > another type of third-part screen reading software? I am so sick of > JAWS! > > This all started when I was looking at iPhones. I am very excited at > the prospect of having a functional, accessible iPhone and the > descriptions I've read that allow you to move through information via > the touch screen, thus getting a real sens of page layout, has really > sparked my interest. Do I understande correctly that laptops also > have some kind of touch pad mouse that allows this same kind of > interaction with information on the screen so that it's not always > necessary to arrow up and down endlessly through massive amounts of > web site jumble? > > I should add that though I've been using computers for about 20 years > now, I am no programmer or technician. I am a functional user who has > reluctantly had to learn more than I ever wanted to know about > computer set-up and the inter-workings of various software out of > necessity. So don't get too technical on me. <smile> Keep it simple! > > Thanks much for allowing me to join and I promise not to interfere > with the flow of techie talk too much with irritating newby questions. > > Donna > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
