Hi,
Yes. Particularly since I am a lawyer with the public defenders office. And
my primary role as an appellate and post-conviction attorney is to write
briefs, with case citations.
I knew about the fusion program, as I have spent time talking to others
about the program. I didn't know about the snap shot.
So thanks.
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John J Herzog
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 7:14 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: the apple user?
Hello,
As a macbook user, who has to write substantial papers for law school, and
who has used his computer at a summer internship with Pepsico, I feel I can
helpfully answer your questions.
Forgive the length of this email.
First, the idea that macs are only play toys is complete and utter nonsense.
On my mac, I do use the apps like Itunes and Ichat, but I use serious apps
as well. Iwork is quite accessible, as is text edit, allowing you to do
extensive formatting of documents. Also, the preview application on the mac
is one of the best PDF readers I have ever seen. The text is readable with
voiceover, and there are few, if any crashes. What other screen readers can
you say that about?
Next, I will address your concern about microsoft office applications not
being accessible. It is true that they do not work with voiceover. However,
for about seventy dollars, you can pick up a program called VMware fusion.
Fusion allows you to install windows and run it at the same time as your
mac. This means that you can use whatever screen reader you like for windows
and run office without a hitch.
There is one more upside to running fusion on mac. After you have configured
windows just the way you want it, you can create what is known as a
snapshot. The snapshot will restore your system to its exact configuration
at the time you took it, meaning you will always have a fresh install of
windows, office, and your screen reader a click away. It's awesome, because
it does a complete and utter system restore when windows decides to go south
on you. For a blind person, I actually think a mac with fusion is better
than a standard windows PC for this reason. Note that a fusion snapshot
literally restores all files and settings to the way they were when you took
it. It is much more extensive than using the built in windows system restore
utility. It has saved my skin a number of times, and I will give you a
perfect example.
At the beginning of law school, I found it necessary to purchase a scanner
with a document feeder. Previously, I had a different scanner that I was
using with kurzweil 1000. Now, when I installed the twain drivers for the
new scanner, after trying to unsuccessfully remove the old drivers, I found
myself in a situation where neither set worked. If I had a standard windows
machine, I was facing the real possibility of having to reinstall windows to
get either unit to work reliably. Either that, or it was having to spend
hours and hours messing with system dll files, and we all know what happens
after that.
So, instead, I just restored a snapshot I made of my XP machine prior to
having installed either Kurzweil or the scanner software. I then installed
both on what was essentially a fresh copy of windows, and all was smooth
sailing from there. It saved me from endless headaches, plus the burden of
having to get a sighted person to help install the screen reader again, and
the time that would have been wasted in such a pursuit.
I hope this helps answer your questions.
John
P.S. If you go to www.blindcooltech.com, you can find some excellent demos
of the macintosh by Mike Arigo. He even shows how fusion and voiceover work,
and he runs window eyes on the XP side of things.
Hope this helps.
On Apr 20, 2010, at 7:52 PM, denise avant wrote:
Hello all,
Please forgive the length of this message.
In researching the issue of whether to purchase an apple mac or not, I've
come across a few people who have expressed criticism if not concern about
the mac computers themselves. I own the iphone, and have enjoyed it
tremendously. I've been able to do things with the phone I was never able to
do with other phones. The only problem I still have is putting in extensions
and account numbers once the number is connected.
But having said this, I seriously doubt whether I will ever buy another
phone, where I don't have accessibility built in.
There is an applestoe here in Chicago, and when I've had any problem of any
kind, the sales staff has been very easy to deal with.
Even when I call on the telephone, I find a very friendly staff.
I have my own personal sales representative since I have mac book pro on the
drawing board.
What I enjoy most of all, is that I can go to an appelstore, and with the
exception of a couple of products, there is accessibility right out of the
box, with no extra costs or smas to worry about.
I'm seeking opinions from those of you who use these computers with voice
over. The biggest criticism I've heard that if you're conducting a business
or doing a serious project, the mac is not for the blind user. This
apparently has to do with the fact that the office aps are not accessible
with vo, and iwork9 acts strangely sometimes.
Basically, one person, who doesn't use the mac, but is familiar with the
product line, told me that the operating system was those who wanted to
"play."
Can those you have used the macbooks or other appel operating systems
address these issues. Thanks.
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