any time a person attempts to learn something new, there is bound to be a
level of frustration involved - its no right of passage, just a fact of
human existence. Try to eliminate it altogether if you like, lord knows
people have been trying to do so for milenea.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cheree Heppe" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: How to help blind people new to Mac learn it as fast and smooth
as possible
Cheree Heppe here:
From what has been recently posted about learning how to use an MBA and Mac
computers, and based on my very abbreviated experience with the MAC, and
about three years using IOS, I agree with the majority of thoughts and
suggestions.
Where I disagree concerns the way the skills should be acquired and the
level of frustration which, according to some, should be high, almost like a
rite of passage or a toll, in order to enter an elite subset of computer
users. Something in me crys out that we are now in the 21st century and not
at the beginning of the computer revolution, when, indeed, it took intrepid
trail blazers to make the modern computer experience what it now is for so
many. It's my thinking that a computer use curve should be a smooth and
intuitive process, in so far as possible.
It seems that the command structure nd maybe the MAC architecture comprises
many oldisms and hold-overs and that these are kept in place by social
pressure and habit. For example, the Mac's way of moving from segment to
segment, area to area, seems like island hopping where a blind user has to
interact, then uninteract and move into the next mode. It seems that this
clumsiness has been ditched or primarily automated in the IOS platform. Mac
has to go toward IOS fluidity and bring with it all the power, file porting
and operational modalities when it does.
Why not take lessons from history? The Braille codex, many proprietary to
individual people's design or to a school or institution, had to be unified
in the early 20th century in order to eliminate archaic and cumbersome
elements and to streamline and modernize the Braille code. Now, we have a
standard code in the English speaking world which lends itself to all of the
modern applications. Why not re-design the Mac VoiceOver command structure,
incorporating modern elements and removing clumsy and outdated modalities,
such as the overly multiple key commands. A simplified structure would make
learning the Apple platform a breeze and would help broaden the use of this
platform because of ease of use, just like the IOS devices.
Yes, we, especially the old-timers, would have to re-learn things they
already had mastered, just as many blind people had to learn the unified
Braille code that arose out of the changes in the early 20th century. It
seems to me that unless Apple does this sort of modification, the Mac
VoiceOver interface can only grow more and more cluttered and complicated.
Thanks, everyone, for all the constructive suggestions. I intend to pass
them along to the Apple store guys trying to help me so we all can learn and
progress.
Regards,
Cheree Heppe
Sent from my IPhone 4S
On 09/01/2013, at 10:01, "Phil Halton" <[email protected]> wrote:
Yes,
1) take the VoiceOver tutorial by pressing VO, Command, F8
2) repeatedly read the mountain lion with VoiceOver manual. It can be found
on Apple's website, and also under the VoiceOver help menu (VO H)
3) make liberal use of the keyboard help function (VO K)
4) , explore and get very frustrated over and over again until frustration
goes away.
----- Original Message ----- From: "David Hole" <[email protected]>
To: "MacVisionaries" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 12:28 PM
Subject: How to help blind people new to Mac learn it as fast and smooth as
possible
Hi folks.
As far as I know, there are many here in this group who are helping
blind people switching from Windows to Mac.
Do you have any strategies to help them get fast into the VoiceOver
commands, and how they can "distance" them selves from the Windows
platform, and learn Mac the best way there is?
For example, is the best way to first learn to use VoiceOver with the
QuickKeys, or the hard way with so many keys pressed at once some
times?
What about what to learn first, do you learn them a piece of software
(such as Mail or Safari) or how the OS and how VoiceOver interacts
with it before going into apps?
All comments on this is really welcome.
Best regards David
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