# MAC Leopard and VoiceOver

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by Cristobal (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 25-Oct-2007 23:04:31

Hello,
I was curious to know if anyone on here has used VoiceOver in the past with the Tiger OSX or if they've heard about the new release included in the Leopard OSX for the Mac. Jaws hasn't impressed me with the last few updates and I was considering looking into getting a Mac for my next desktop. I read a review from the AFB website from a couple of years ago when it first came out and it wasn't all that encouraging, but I would have to imagine that improvements have been made since then...
In any event, Any input or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Cristobal

## Post 2 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Friday, 26-Oct-2007 15:02:56

My friend, that review has so much false information in it that the writer mostlikely received more hate mail then he could read. I use and teach voiceover and will be obtaining leopard this evening. Really, the best way to decide what you need is think about what tasks you want to perform and then assess both platforms. I have done much with the mac and am happy with it but there are also as in any operating systems applications that are not accessible to voiceover yet. If I can answer any questions please let me know. Lepoard promises to be quite an extrordinary release.

## Post 3 by Cristobal (Veteran Zoner) on Saturday, 27-Oct-2007 11:14:41

Well, I'm really just a standard computer user. word processing, data base access and spread sheets for work, e-mail through outlook, Internet etc. I don't write scripts or deal with computer language and so on. I have a windows based PDA so I use ActiveSync, but other then that, nothing out of the ordenary. Although, I do use the Outlook program features (calendar, contact lists distrubution, tasks etc) quite heavily. I have an XP Por machine and with all these upgrades and the last few jaws upgrades using the pc feels like it's becoming more and more tedious to work on. Not to mention Vistta and all the general issues that seem to come along with it. I'd like to know how feasible it would be to consider a mac as an alternative to buying a Vista machine.
Thanks,
Cristobal

## Post 4 by Cristobal (Veteran Zoner) on Saturday, 27-Oct-2007 16:30:04

Ah, I forgot. What about Boot Camp? How would it work switching back and forth and the screen readers?

## Post 5 by BigDogDaddy (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Saturday, 27-Oct-2007 17:48:54

You could also use fusion.
I've run fusion on a mac book pro and have not too meany problems switching back and fourth between windows and the mac OS. There are some changes that I had to make within jaws to get an insert or jaws key, but other than that it works. I think it's a nice alternative so as to have the best of both worlds.

## Post 6 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Saturday, 27-Oct-2007 22:29:28

I use a Mac with Boot Camp as well, and it works like a charm. I've got a copy of Leopard at home on my desk, and on Monday, the first thing I shall do is install it. Can't wait to play with the new updates to VO.

## Post 7 by Cristobal (Veteran Zoner) on Monday, 29-Oct-2007 15:33:28

Thanks for the feedback. How strong is the htlm support? I've been told that it is very lacking. is it similar to the level of Jaws now or is it a downgrade as to what you can do on the Internet.
Thanks,
Cristobal

## Post 8 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Monday, 29-Oct-2007 17:36:27

It is now almost on par with Jaws. You interact with HTML a bit differently, but as you get used to it, it becomes very easy.

## Post 9 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 01-Nov-2007 1:39:25

Good evening. I am now running leopard and so far so good. The Internet is working quite well however, tables still aren't recognized as tables. In other words, a table can be read in column and row format however when voiceover encounters a table on a webpage it will not say table. HOpefully this is being worked on. Headings work really well and I use them allot. As far as the tasks you mentioned e-mail is great, ICAL from what I hear is now accessible meaning you can keep a calendar, I believe address book is also accessible for contacts for spreadsheets there is a program called Tables which is getting better and better. It is compatible with voiceover however there are still some challenges with it. I was able to open a Microsoft excel spreadsheet and fill it out. I use that for my log. Text edit is a fairly robust word processor that comes with the mac. So far I have used mac for e-mail, internet, writing documents, doing simple audio editing and recording, watching DVD's, playing music through ITunes and of course syncing my IPod. Although my office ordered the wrong copy of windows(okay we ordered the right one but it was from a discount place that shipped older copies and it was not service pac two) I was able to get boot camp and also try parallels desktop. From what I could see it worked quite well. I had problems reading documents in window-eyes and zoom text kept crashing on installation but I think that was due to the wrong copy of windows.

## Post 10 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Thursday, 01-Nov-2007 11:39:09

I'm using iWork as my Office suite of choice. Much of it is accessible, some is not, but I'm sure that's being worked on as well. I haven't tried Braille support, but hear it is phenomenal. Just plug it in, and it begins to work. Amazing. No configuration, no setup, nothing! It just works! If only the screen readers in Windows had that right! Only a few little beefs with the system.
1: No say all command. Theoretically, you could use the voiceover command to read what's on the voiceover screen, but that doesn't work well on web pages at all.
2: no tables on Internet. This should be an easy fix.
3: You still can't et into the iPod preferences in iTunes. I haven't tried drag and drop yet to sync my iPod, but it looks like it'll work. Major goodness there!

## Post 11 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Friday, 02-Nov-2007 21:15:07

Jesse, using iwor? please share! it's not very accessible from waht I saw. you mean apple IWork write? What version are you using and what is and isn't accessible to you. are you using strictly voiceover or zoom as well? come on now, share with the rest of the class okay?

## Post 12 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Friday, 02-Nov-2007 23:53:45

I'm using the latest version. I'm only using Pages, and it's seeming to work ok, but you gotta trn the format bar off. That's crucial! Once you do that, you can type and manipulate your document to your heart's content. I haven't had much need for it, but the stuff I've used therein has been decent enough. Keynote is a bit fiddly, and Numbers is crap, but Pages isn't bad. use the Word Processing template.

## Post 13 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 05-Nov-2007 16:54:13

I wonder, in Mac Leopard, I recently read a story on computerworld about how the firewall has gotten worse since the release of Tiger, when it comes to working with Skype. How is Skype on a mac with voice over, does it work, like jaws or orca do for Windows and Linux?

## Post 14 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 05-Nov-2007 17:05:26

The reason I ask is because I plan to purchase a mac, probably a desktop to start out with, after Christmas, so that I can get used to it, since, no, Bill Gates, the whole world doesn't run on Windows... I will not move completely over to the Mac, since there's still some stuff that I use that's windows only, and has no mac alternative, and may never have one.

## Post 15 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Monday, 05-Nov-2007 20:55:41

Jesse are you using pages on leopard or tiger. I had heard on tiger it's tolerable but leopard it's a real bust! Also, hope you tried the latest addition of ITunes. IPod settings are now visible to voiceover and can be minipulated. It's a scrole area that you have to interact with. I was able to reset the software with no problem. NIce! now they've got to get downloading and account setup working and all will be right with the world.

## Post 16 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Monday, 05-Nov-2007 21:04:30

It's workable in Leopard as well, you just have to play with it. For what ever reason, reopening a file is weird. I have no idea why, but that's just how it is. You have to play around with it for it to work poperly.
As for iTunes 7.5, I have it, and have done the iPod thing as well. The problem though, is that it won't let you have access till you've registered it, and the registration screen is inaccessible. Go figure! Lol!
It gets better and better though, and I'm excited to see what's next.

## Post 17 by The Shuck Fitter (My name is Liam) on Tuesday, 06-Nov-2007 11:44:13

you guys are really really really making me want to get a mac of some kind. stop it, it's not fair. I don't have money. do they still sel minis? I'd almost consider getting one at this point.

## Post 18 by soaring eagle (flying high again!) on Tuesday, 06-Nov-2007 13:49:00

sorry I am not the smartest when it comes to computers but what is this voice over? what do is it do?? you can post to my pm if you wish. Thanks

## Post 19 by Cristobal (Veteran Zoner) on Tuesday, 06-Nov-2007 14:56:16

Thanks for all the information. Would one be able to access bookshare.org files through the Mac and VoiceOver or would you have to switch over back and forth with Boot Camp?
It's odd, I can't seem to find any information as far as reviews about VoiceOver in general. You figure that it would get more exposure or at least talked about as an alternative to using the traditional screen readers.

## Post 20 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Tuesday, 06-Nov-2007 16:21:20

Liam, they still sell the mini. I's $599 for the base model, which is still a core duo processor with 512 megs of memory on a 667MHZ bus. Not too shabby.

## Post 21 by DHS Darcy (Zone BBS Addict) on Monday, 19-Nov-2007 15:21:25

I've not been on here in a while, so I'm just now seeing this thread. First, responding to post 10, you can do say all on web pages. Stop interacting with the html area, and then do a VO keys plus a. As for voiceover reviews, a few weeks ago, Main Menu did a whole show on VoiceOver and Leopard. There was a panel discussion, and my girlfriend Holly and I got to be part of it. In addition, Holly and I do a mac podcast, and we also had a VoiceOver round table discussion. You can find it at http://www.screenlessswitchers.com