[vicsireland] Top Ten Myths About the Mac and Its Accessibility to the Blind
- From: "Martin O'Sullivan" <martin_osullivan@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:52:48 +0000
Hi the following may be of intrest.
By Josh de Lioncourt, updated by Michael McCarty
I have compiled this list based on many false beliefs I have seen
expressed in a variety of forums and from many individuals in the
blind and visually impaired community. If you have questions please
ask, and feel free to pass this list on to any and all you think may
benefit from it.
The following list is not all inclusive, but it does provide
information on the most commonly held Mac myths in the visually
impaired community. I hope you find this list informative and helpful.
Myth: VoiceOver does not include scripting functionality, like that in
Jaws for Windows, rendering it less useful than its Windows
counterparts.
Truth: While VoiceOver itself does not include scripting
functionality, the Mac OS X operating system does. AppleScript
provides a great deal of similar functionality and features visually
impaired Windows users are used to in Jaws scripts, and then some.
Other tools, such as the Automator are also available, which may be
used in enhancing access to applications and the OS. The upshot to all
of which is, of course, that VoiceOver does not need to duplicate that
which the operating system already provides.
Myth: ITunes is not accessible on the Mac with VoiceOver.
Truth: ITunes is almost entirely accessible with VoiceOver, and has
been steadily improving as updates to Apple's media player have been
released. VoiceOver users can easily browse, organize, listen to, and
manage their music and playlists, as well as work with the content on
their iPods.
Myth: VoiceOver is very limited due to its lack of using an OSM (off
screen model).
Truth: Windows screen readers that do not use an OSM are severely
limited, which is likely where this misconception arises. Mac has a
much more robust and well-designed accessibility infrastructure. It
has undergone radical renovations in recent years, and has been
designed with accessibility in mind. Unlike Windows, OSM's are not
critical to making the OS and third-party applications accessible.
Just like Windows, visually impaired users will suffer inaccessibility
when trying to use applications which are highly graphical in nature.
Overall access between the two systems is very comparable, with Mac
surpassing Windows in many key areas, due to its better accessibility
framework.
Myth: There is no Braille display support on the Mac.
Truth: Braille displays are supported.
Myth: You cannot produce or emboss Braille content from a Mac.
Truth: Many free open source tools, complete with GUI interfaces, have
been developed for the Mac for just such a purpose. Louis for Mac is a
great tool for Braille translation into a variety of languages, and is
freely available at http://w3.wmcnet.org/louis/.
Myth: You cannot perform OCR with a Mac.
Truth: While not entirely flawless solutions, several OCR packages for
Mac are perfectly usable with VoiceOver, including the popular
OmniPage. For users with less robust needs, several Canon CanoScan
models of scanners come with basic accessible OCR software for less
than $80, all inclusive.
Myth: You can't read PDF files with VoiceOver.
Truth: Reading PDF files with VoiceOver is simple and painless, and is
far easier with the Mac's built-in Preview program for PDF viewing
than with Adobe Acrobat Reader under Windows with Windows screen
readers.
Myth: VoiceOver has not been updated in over two years.
Truth: VoiceOver is an integral part of the operating system. As
software and components of the operating system are updated,
accessibility with VoiceOver often improves. VoiceOver itself does not
need to have new releases for better performance, and indeed we have
seen a number of OS updates that have improved accessibility on the
Mac.
Myth: Most software for the Mac doesn't work with VoiceOver.
Truth: Most modern software for the Mac is developed with Cocoa, a
derivitive of Objective C. Cocoa provides inherent accessibility
functionality, and the XCode tools needed to build Cocoa applications
is available with every Mac. Most Mac software developed in the last
several years will work well to stellar with VoiceOver without any
effort on the part of the third-party developer. As a result, a
treasure trove of Mac freeware and shareware is available that works
out of the box with VoiceOver. Much of this software can be found at
http://www.pure-mac.com and a newly begun list of software and its
accessibility rating with VoiceOver can be found at
http://w3.wmcnet.org/vo/.
Myth: VoiceOver requires you to learn a huge array of extremely
complicated commands to use the OS effectively.
Truth: VoiceOver commands are logical and designed not to conflict
with application or OS commands. The Mac OS provides built-in
navigation similar to what Windows users are accustomed to, such as
tab to move from control to control, and spacebar to activate them.
VoiceOver navigation and usage is no more complex than any other
screen reader on any other platform, though it is significantly
innovative in its strategy.
http://www.fredshead.info/2007/07/top-ten-myths-about-mac-and-its.html
--
Martin O'Sullivan
Act your way into a feeling dont feel your way into Action (Gandhi)
Be the change you want to see in the world. (Gandhi)
Tel: +353878289243
fax: +3538758289243
web: http://martinri.freeshell.org
E-mail martin_osullivan@xxxxxxxxxx
Skype martin_osullivan
google talk osumartin
yahoo messenger martinosullivanirl
Street address
66 Edenmore Avenue
Edenmore
Dublin 5
Co Dublin
Ireland
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