Hi Donna, Are you the Donna Smith that was on the Bookshare Volunteer list a few years back? If so, hi from the other Donna! :)
I have had an iphone and a Mac since last July, and I really like them. I warn you though, I went through a period with both, where I just wanted to throw them through a window. With the iphone this only lasted a couple of weeks, with the Mac, it probably lasted about two months. I say this not to discourage you, but so you'll be prepared in the event that you have a similar reaction. However, now that I'm past the adjustment period, I really do love them both. As others have pointed out, the Mac is accessible out of the box, and when you boot up, you'll be prompted for whether you want to use Voiceover. You'll then be taken through a tutorial that will show you some of VO's basic functions. Like you, I still use my PC for work, but any more I do all my personal computing on the Mac. This is a really nice list with lots of helpful people, so don't be afraid to ask questions. Take care, Donna On Dec 4, 2009, at 11:23 PM, 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.
