Planning a VoiceOver Main Menu Review

[jim grimsby]

Hi, at one time fs did invest in a sdk for mac.  They decided not to
create a screen reader for it.  
Alva gave up on it as well.  And they did have a screen reader.
Synthavoice ask apple for a sdk and were told if they payed for it they
could have one.   Ibm did the same thing this is why they went with a
windows screen reader.  
Hth 

-----Original Message-----
From: speakup-bounces at braille.uwo.ca
[mailto:speakup-bounces at braille.uwo.ca] On Behalf Of EPYD Productions
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 3:50 PM
To: Jane Lee; Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
Subject: Re: Planning a VoiceOver Main Menu Review


um..... when did fs ever get involved with the mac os?
Blind Tech
website: http://www.users.qwest.net/~drjann/epyd/
contact info can be found on website
email list: EPYD Radio-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
EPYD the only place to be!
----- 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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