Planning a VoiceOver Main Menu Review

[EPYD Productions]

um..... when did fs ever get involved with the mac os?
Blind Tech
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jane Lee" <applegoddess at gmail.com>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2005 3:31 PM
Subject: Re: Planning a VoiceOver Main Menu Review


I'd just like to make it clear that VoiceOver is built into the Mac OS
X operating system, not a standalone program like speakup or Jaws. 
After Freedom Scientific and others gave up on the Mac platform
because of the even smaller market, Apple and their devs figured they
should do all of the accessibility work in house, and that's how
VoiceOver started.

You cannot, I repeat, cannot, port VoiceOver to another OS like
Windows or Linux.  It relies on the Mac OS too much.  This also means
that VoiceOver cannot work on an iPod.

On another matter, the cheapest Mac out there is 500 dollars, and is
called the Mac mini.  Since the new operating system came out on the
29th of April, as of now, if you go online or to a store and buy the
Mac mini, it will come with the OS and VoiceOver.  If you're planning
on going out maybe today or within the next week, inquire about
whether or not it comes with Tiger, which is the OS that VoiceOver
comes with, and not Panther just in case.  Be warned, the Mac mini
does not come with a keyboard, a mouse or a monitor.  This computer
was meant for PC and Mac users already with older computers that don't
mind keeping their old setups.  Mac laptops, such as the iBook or the
Powerbook, start at around 1000 dollars.

Voiceover is not an additional application that you have to pay for,
it comes with the OS, which is 129 dollars.  Some third party
retailers will have it at a discounted price, while schools, teachers
and college students will be able to buy the OS from Apple or a
university bookstore at the education price, which is 69 dollars.  A
"family pack" that gives you a license for use up to 5 computers is
200 dollars but has restrictions and only comes with one install disk.

Personally, I haven't been able to try out VoiceOver much on my Mac,
but I found that the accessible installation of OS X, the VoiceOver
enabled login menu and the overall integration makes it fun and easy
to use.  There's no serial number to install the OS and there's no
activation (like Windows) either.

If you have any specifics on how to use a Mac, go to the local Apple
retail store and ask one of the people there.  The genius bar at all
the stores should be able to help you out with setup (like turning on
VoiceOver for the first time).  If you have technical questions on
problems with your Mac, feel free to drop me an email :)  I can help
out with most of the smaller issues.

If you're looking for anything in particular though (about Apple,
their computers, anything, really) feel free to drop me an email.

cheers
jane

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