Category: Geeks r Us
Hiya - just wondered if anyone here uses a Mac (or has tried one) - I'm about to get a mac pro - I'd be really interested to chat with anyone who has used voice over and discuss which programmes it works with - in particular if there is a music editing programme that works with voice over.
Oh lord, honey, don't spend all that money just yet.
Voice Over is not up to snuff yet. It still has a long, long long way to go before it's a viable option for screen reading. If you have some vision -- enough to read a computer screen with magnification -- then go for it. But if you plan on depending on Voiceover alone, well... wait.
As for music editing, no, Voice Over does not support any third party programs just yet. That is to say, it won't support any programs that do not come strictly from Apple, and even some of those programs have limited support (Garage Band, for example).
This is a sore subject for me; I'm at college studying audio production, and my school uses Apple computers with ProTools as the sound editor of choice. And... it's completely inaccessible.
Hopefully, Apple will get on the ball about this issue, but I'd hold off on forking out all that money for a MacBook Pro just yet.
I, however, enjoy Mac and Voice Over and am glad I spent the money I did. However I did not get a Pro as I did not have $3000... I got a refurb IBook--plenty sufficient for now--for $700. Voice Over s by no means perfect, but...
Shanda
jfw and window eyes were nt perfect when they were first aroundeither. I think for a first attempt, voice over is very impressive. i use voice over and the mac at school in the computer lab over thefew jaws equpit machines they have any day, just because they are easier for the workers to find, and I enjoy learning about them. Narrator can't compare. For something built into the os, voice over is all that much more impressive. i don't think i'd buy a mac just yet, as I am a pc user, but I do wish I knew someone whose mac I could explore more readily.
Shawn
I'm not saying voiceover is hopeless... for what it is, and for how new the program is, it's amazing. but I wouldn't switch over to using a Mac as my primary computer just yet. Believe me, I'd love to do just that, but it's a big investment, and if I can't access necessary programs with Voiceover yet, then I won't switch.
Leopard, which is the new OS for Macs that is supposed to be released this spring supposedly contains many improvements to voiceover. So, we'll see.
I don't have a mac but I hear voiceover is good for a start.
Troy
Yeah, voiceover seems quite promising. But, pro tools, logic, digital performer, etc are going to be a while as far as independent use under OSX with voiceover is concerned. The thing is that convincing the third party developers, such as Digidesign, to follow the Apple coding standards would take some effort. So we'll see...
Guitargod1, exactly. You hit the nail on the head. Even Apple's own weird sound editing software (Garage Band) isn't accessible with Voiceover.
Not even MS Office for Mac is accessible yet. So, there's still a long way to go, in my opinion.
The problem isn't with Voiceover. The problem is with the software in question, which needs to adopt the OSX Coco platform rather than the classic Carbon platform. Digidesign, the maker of ProTools has stated they have no intention of making their software accessible for qute some time. The biggest hope is with Logic.
In the meantime, if you're just dying to get a Mac, don't by the Mac Pro...Get an iMac or MacBook and learn it. If nothing else, you could install Bootcamp and Windows, and your money wouldn't be wasted.
I love my iMac, but it's still not my primary computer. I hope with Leopard, it will be.
i think you have to use os 9.5 to get it to work, but there is a version of protools that will work with outspoken, although the os and the screen reader are both really outdated now.
I kno a blind person that uses word with voice over (well pretty sure anyway) so i think it works now.
outspoken is no longer available.
On the most recent episode of the Screenless Switchers Podcast, the mac related podcast I do with my girlfriend Holly, we Interviewed Slau, who was the one behind the protools petition.
According to Slau, digidesign is aware of the accessibility problem, and is working on a solution.
As I understand it, it isn't strictly necessary for an application to be written in cocoa in order to take advantage of voice over and other universal access features. It just means more work is required on the part of the developer to make it work. For example, the finder is written in Carbon, and it works with voice over.
As for weather or not someone should buy a Mac at this time, unless you need a spreadsheet, or an audio editor like protools, I would recommend the Mac without hesitation. It's become my primary machine. I still use both windows and linux for some things, but I'm finding I'm using the Mac more and more every day.
Check out our podcast at www.screenlessswitchers.com
Are you dualbooting with Bootcamp?
Hey, thanks for all the suggestions. How good is Bootcamp? I tried Parallels (demo version) on a macbook - it was ok but noticeably slower than Windows on a PC - don't like to think what would happen with Supernova running on top of another demanding programme.
I am a screen user but speech compatibility is useful when my sight is worse - hence the question about voice over. Is there much of a VI Mac community out there? Any good resource sites other than the official mac ones? Is there a definitive up-to-date list of voice-over compatible software?
Libby
You can find a good voice over related mailing list over at www.macvisionaries.com. It's a fairly active list, though the traffic is light most of the time.
As for a definitive list of voice over programs, I've seen lists, but don't think you'd ever find a definitive one, for the same reason you wouldn't find a definitive list of programs that work with jaws. There are just too many programs out there. Your best bet is just to try out any program you think you might want to use, and see if it works for you.
Well, guess I need to shime in on this one. I have been using a Mac since Tiger first came out. I teach both Mac and Windows and am trying to make my primary machine a mac. I find surfing the Internet easier on the mac and mail is excellent. I do write some documents using tesxt edit although VoiceOVer won't read the formatting such as alinement or tables and lists which text edit will do. Spell checking does work well. Mariner software is supposed to be coming out with there voiceover accessible versions of Write and Calc which are word processing and spreadsheet softwares respectivly. What draws me to the Mac is the stabillity and the abillity to tell a student exactly what is going to happen when I close an application or a window. Usually, a mac will do the same thing all the time so when I tell a student that when they close an application focus will return to the desktop it always does. I am quite hopefull that there are some excellent things comming up in leopard in the spring. Go to an apple store and play with a mac. Before doing so go to www.aple.com/accessibillity and enjoy the VoiceOver tutorial in PDF and MP3 format.
Well, if you choose to run the Windows over the mac, then could you then use JFW?
If you use bootcamp yes you can. I have heard however with the parellels desktop there is a problem with the jfw video intercept.