Hi Donna,
I'm going to do my best to politely disagree with you. The training
program is fine for a review for people who have used VoiceOver, and
perhaps other screen readers successfully..
However, for someone who never has been successful at using a
screen reader, it is totally unclear. The only clear step - is how to turn
it on and off.
Most people trying to learn it would have far less computer knowledge than
either me or my husband, are not young, can't read the developer's mind,
and are still partially sighted, or only recently lost their vision. The
training program is not geared for those people - exactly the people trying
to use it.
I have asked specifically to a link to a specific web site with step by
step directions. Although, others responded offering to help off list, the
first person reminded me that I am too stupid to live, and no one has the
time to write a step by step guide.
I should say thank you to that person for reminding me what I heard many
times a day for the first twenty years of my life.
I am too stupid to live if I can't read the developer's mind, and need a
actual training manual to learn something new.
I have asked, at least three times what three specific terms meant, hoping
I could figure it out if I cold figure out those terms. One person defined
one of them today. And a search on the Internet does not reveal
definitions related to computers, or VoiceOver.
I think I'm wasting my time trying to learn a program without a training
manual.
How many thousands of people have given up before this point, because there
is no manual?
How many people are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs because they are
not a mind reader?
I need to be spending the last few weeks with my remaining vision writing
and learning Braille.
This will be my last computer. I'm too old too keep up with the lingo.
Since I am just a pest trying to ask questions to learn how to use this, I
won't ask anymore.
On Monday, January 13, 2014 8:05:57 AM UTC-5, Donna wrote:
>
> April,
>
> Just a few comments that I hope will be helpful.
>
> First, it seems like you've turned this thing into a dragon. It really
> isn't it's just a piece of software. Treat it that way. You're not
> climbing a mountain. Many of us, myself included found the Mac very
> frustrating at the beginning. for me, that lasted about three months, and
> then suddenly everything just clicked.. I don't think this is due to any
> inherent problems on the Mac, but rather that it was a new system and new
> screen-reader. I'm pretty sure I was equally frustrated with JAWS and
> Windows, but that was so long ago now that I've forgotten how frustrated I
> was. So take it easy, and take it in very small chunks.
>
> Second, don't rely too much on your husband. I'm not sure it's always
> intuitive to sighted person how someone who is blind or low-vision uses a
> computer, so his take/experience with Voiceover may not be the best
> measuring stick. this may apply to you as well. You've mentioned that
> you're losing both your hearing and your vision. That is going to require
> that you figure out new ways of interacting with things, which is
> inevitably going to be quite frustrating at times. So while you may have a
> lot of computer knowledge, I suspect that you are doing more than just
> learning to use a Mac, you're relearning how to use a computer.
>
> Regarding the terms you say overwhelm you, if you can figure out physics
> terms, then you know that every discipline, and even subdisciplines, have
> their specific terminology. If you don't know what a hot-spot is, either
> google it, or ask one of us. We'd be happy to tell you. Asking questions
> and then getting answers is a much better use of this list then just
> venting your frustrations, though of course many of us have had occasion to
> do that as well. :)
>
> As for dictation, I hate to shoot down your husband's theory, but it isn't
> context-based. So it works the same way, whether your using Facebook or
> Pages. It cares less about the inflection in your voice than it does the
> clarity of your speech. One key difference that I can see between social
> media and a pages document is that the latter is usually much longer. So
> I'm wondering if the chunks you are dictating in your social media posts
> are simply shorter, and thus you're having better luck.
>
> Just some thoughts, hope they're helpful.
> Good luck today,
> Donna
> On Jan 13, 2014, at 6:47 AM, April Brown <[email protected]<javascript:>>
> wrote:
>
> I get to spend the afternoon doing one of my favorite things (and yes,
> this is honest, not sarcastic): Re-formatting a computer for one of hubby's
> co-workers.
>
> While in that room - Hubby and I will try the VoiceOver trainer on his
> Mac, and see if he has any luck figuring it out.
>
> Most people say that if between his computer knowledge, and mine, it cant
> be figured out, it either can't be important, or it isn't easy.
>
> I can figure out earthquake, volcano, and even some physics terms
> relatively easy. And yet, these term that I cannot find defined anywhere
> on the net that are used in the VoiceOver training are OverWhelming.
>
> Regina, I did see that link to Sarai's post, and have read all the pages
> on that site, even before my first post on here.
>
> Oh, and hubby thinks he knows why I can use Dictation in social media, and
> not Pages to tell a story. In social media, I rarely use inflection.
> However, I am a storyteller, so in novel writing, I have all kinds of
> inflection and excitement. I don't talk in a monotone while recording a
> story. Makes sense.
>
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