Category: Geeks r Us
Hi has any long time JAWS user switched over to using a Mac and Voiceover? I've been using JAWS since version 3. That was way back in 1999 I think. I'm thinking I may get a Mac for my next comp and I know it will take some learning to switch to VO but I really haven't had much of a problem learning to use an iPhone, so don't think a Mac should be much of a problem. For those of you that use a Mac or have used both is VO fairly stable and work as well as JAWS? If I do switch is it fairly easy to convert Word documents to whatever program the Mac uses? Any opinions on VO vs. Jaws would be appreciated.
quite easy as the mac is compatible with all versions of Microsoft word formats. It has it's own format, as well, which is .pages.
The macs I think are generally more stable and reliable and as the unit voice over works extremely well and is more often stabler than Jaws is.
It took me a few months to adapt, when I first used a mac for the first time two years ago. I've been using a windows box for 4 or 5 years before I used a mac. I swore I would never use a mac and yet, here I am quite partial to the mac I use.
The mac utilizes many short cut keys for it's functions, and due to apples awareness of accessibility one is able to use the trackpad.
It probably depends a bit on what you currently use your Windows computer
for. Certainly you can perform many of the tasks you do with JAWS as well or
better with Voiceover, but by no means all of them.
just cuz i'm curious, wh what cant you do with voiceover that you can with jaws?
Just got my first ever iPhone recently. Voiceover's nice, but I've never found a more, erm, eloquent synth than Eloquence.
I mainly do allot of work with MS Office keeping records and working with documents. Also, of course using the internet. I'd also like to know what types of tasks can't be done or are more difficult with Vo than with JAWS.
JAWS has some neat productivity features particularly useful in Office that can't
be done in Voiceover, things like text analyser, skim reading/summary, and its
manipulation of revisions is better. Internet access I would say is comparable
though you have to turn some of it on with Voiceover (like quick keys). The one
thing I would say is that Pages accessibility with Voiceover is getting better.
Thanks Ed G very helpful.
Has anyone used the MAC version of Office and if so does it work wel?
If apple offered Eloquence as an option for Voiceover that would be phantabulous.
They do, but you've got to run it under Wine so it's not that responsive. I don't
know that the Mac version of MS Office is that accessible, but the new Outlook
is. Annoyingly Microsoft have only made it available to subscribers of Office 365
but a version that goes on sale is supposed to be made available next year,
along with the rest of the Office programs presumably. The Apple suite is
reasonably accessible though.
Other then office, if your a mudder your screwed. I tried pages, did not like it as much as MS. Office. Do keep in mind just because you have a mac your not screwed in the windows department. You can run windows under a VM ware or bootcamp.
What’s a mudder? Can you read and edit Office documents with Pages? All of my records and documents I use are with MS Office. I remember I think it was in 2007 I had to convert all of them to the new Office format and that was a real pain. If I take the leep to Apple I think I'll fully jump into that system/ OS so probably wouldn't run a Windows program on the Apple. Seems a little backwards to run windows on an Apple to me.
Hi. Yes you can read MS Office documents with Pages, as well as export to
Word format. Obviously as with any conversion, you might lose a degree of
formatting on the way in.
Thanks Ed for all the help. I think I'm going to stick with a windows system. Hard to leave my comfort zone, and cost seems to be much less also.