Another really useful response, thank you. All this is information I will be using to get the most out of our day for as many people as possible. This netbook has a couple of years in it I should think, but I have a feeling it has received its last paid for update. My feeling is that by then, there will be no second thought about making the switch. I've already been shot down for being so excited about the trackpad, but I know it will be an important way of doing things. Few people are born blind and I totally believe that for somebody losing sight, even if they used Windows when sighted, switching to VO would be much easier for them than learning Jaws or NVDA.
Cheers Dave -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Laura M Sent: Friday, June 18, 2010 12:44 AM To: MacVisionaries Subject: Re: Prospective Mac User As to 1, I find messaging on the Mac to be much, much more enjoyable than I ever did on Windows. If you want to, you can use it the way you describe, so you don't have to switch back and forth between the message area and typing field, but even if you use it by tabbing between them, your place is generally remembered, at least on iChat. It also handles multi-person chats better than anything I ever had with Windows. and the best part is, it works without any kind of Jaws overlay. The same commands I use to switch between windows, or bring up contacts are exactly the same for non-Voiceover users. On a general point, I think listening to demos isn't a good way of figuring out whether you'll be efficient. They don't sound convincing in that regard, I know. That's no fault of the demos, I don't think. It's just hard because some of the concepts, like interacting, seem much more complicated than they are when you're just hearing about them. When you're using them, they're far more intuitive--or at least, they were for me. Once I started using it, I found that I loved the Voiceover way of doing things. I don't know if it's always more efficient (though I certainly don't think it's less), but it's more useful than that for me. Between group mode and the trackpad, I have a far better sense of how websites and screens work. There's a context that was never present with JAWS. I know, for example, how the mail program is laid out, or that certain webpages have easily accessible sidebars that I can instantly reach. That absolutely does make me more efficient, because instead of tabbing or arrowing everywhere, I can just touch where I want to be. Far, far fewer keystrokes. And because I know where things are, if I'm explaining something to a friend or family member, I can help them visually identify it far more easily than I could've with JAWS. It really has shortened the distance between how I use a computer and how my sighted friends do, and that's awesome. That's also why I like that VO doesn't make assumptions about what I want it to do, or decide that I'll inevitably want certain extra commands. There are some essential things that really do have to be there for basic functionality, and a lot of really cool stuff that just makes life easier, but I'm not relying on the kind of special JAWS scripts to get things done. Again, it increase parity between me and everyone else using Macs. I didn't know it at the time, but now I really do feel that JAWS was a layer between me and the operating system, which in many cases made it very difficult if scripts broke, or programs were updated, or I was simply trying to explain to a non- JAWS user how I did something. Now I tell them what steps I take, and in most cases, they can replicate them. On Jun 17, 10:35 am, "Dave Taylor" <[email protected]> wrote: > Here are some specific questions on areas where it appears Jaws is ahead. > > 1. In messenger programs, is it possible to have a set of keystrokes that > will read messages and stay within the history area while being able to type > in the edit area at the same time and review that typing? I would want to > have a feature set like the alt plus numbers and arrows in Jaws otherwise it > would be too slow. This is one of the main reasons I haven't switched to > NVDA rather than Jaws. > > 2. In Skype, I can get to my contacts or conversations list with single > keystrokes using ctrl 1 and ctrl 2, and focus most other areas with similar > keystrokes. In addition to the feature I just asked for in messenger, how > easy is this in Mac? > > 3. This one is not a Mac problem, but is really important to me. I use > several programs that make tasks so easy in Windows that don't work on the > Mac. How much does it cost to buy Windows stand alone these days to run > those on a Mac? I'm thinking of SpeakOn which makes internet radio, podcasts > and all sorts of other audio things much easier and gives you fantastic > control over speed etc, Kurzweil 1000 which though expensive automates so > much of my mail reading by simply scanning and automatically reading things > while I'm doing things, and programs that don't even exist for Mac like the > VIP communicator for the Accessible Friends Network and VIP Conduit. > > It is also possible with Jaws for people to write scripts to do things and > share them. Is this possible for VO? > -- 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.
