Hi, I teach voiceover, as well as jaws and window-eyes. If some one is going to pick up a computer for the first time, mac OS is definitely a hole lot easier to teach than windows 7. The combination of jaws 11 and windows 7 is extremely clunky in my opinion. It's not too bad for a guy like me who can figger things out with a little patience, but for some one who just wants a step by step list of things to do to get email and web sites and such, voiceover has it and win 7 doesn't.
Voiceover works completely inside out from windows screen readers. That might give switchers the impression that some things aren't as intuitive, web browsing is a big one, but I haven't fount that to be the case. The only problem I might for see would be the fact that VO is a bit keyboard intensive. One task can require 3 or four buttons at a time. It's an issue if some one has arthritis in their fingers or some such. In this case, you might illuminate some frustration by teaching numpad commander with a nice tactile numpad. You might even try trackpad commander. I've never gotten it to flow for me, but if you can get the feel of it it is a really comfortable and handy tool. Best, erik burggraaf A+ certified technician and user support consultant. Phone: 888-255-5194 Email: [email protected] On 2010-03-15, at 8:47 PM, bilgerat wrote: > I'm not blind myself but have a blind friend. She's in her fifties and > has little experience of computers. She was sold a Mercury system by > RNIB a couple of years back but can't get to grips with it. Nor can I. > the system seems unstable and support is extremely limited. There is > also no tuition available at all except audio discs which are > seriously deficient in various respects. > > So as a macbook user myself I wonder whether that might be a suitable > alternative for her. Basically she wants a computer for using the > internet, for such everyday things as reading a paper, ordering > groceries online, and using the BBC's I-player. But I'm really > concerned that it might be too difficult to learn. There doesn't seem > to be anyone at Apple UK who is actually experienced at using > voiceover. I found one guy at Apple who gives one-to-one tuition to a > blind user, but he told me they have given up on trying to use it to > navigate web pages because it's just too complex! > > So I would be really grateful for advice on this - how difficult is it > for a computer beginner to learn to use; what kind of support if any > is available, any any other things that need thinking about. > > -- > 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.
