Category: Geeks r Us
For those who are interested in what apple plans to do with voiceover in Leopard the next addition of the Mac operating system, i offer the following information that came from one of the mac voiceover lists which was taken from the apple site. I myself am extremely encouraged and glad to see that Apple doesn't consider VoiceOver a one time developement.
Leopard offers new features destined to make it the most accessible Mac OS yet. New voice technology in VoiceOver, plus Braille support, positional audio
cues, and extended keyboard capability give users with visual disabilities more control over their Macs than ever.
A new voice
The new synthesized English voice in Leopard, Alex, uses advanced, patented Apple technologies that deliver natural intonation, even at very fast speaking
rates. And Alex works with any application that supports Apple’s speech synthesis.
Built for Braille
VoiceOver in Leopard also adds new support for a variety of refreshable Braille displays and note-takers. Leopard dynamically translates VoiceOver output
into standard, Grade 2 contracted Braille, so you can attach any supported device and start using it right away.
Location, location, location
VoiceOver features spoken audio and sound effects that communicate what’s happening onscreen. In Leopard, positional cues help you more easily locate and
remember the location of items on the screen. All you need is a pair of stereo headphones or standard stereo speakers.
Custom fit
With Leopard, VoiceOver introduces more customization options for audio output. So if you’re just learning VoiceOver, you can set your preferences to provide
greater detail in descriptions, then reduce the amount of audio information as you become more familiar with VoiceOver. You can also rearrange the order
in which VoiceOver describes objects and events, so you hear the information you want most, first.
Get around
Thanks to object navigation in VoiceOver for Leopard, you can find what you’re looking for more quickly. Navigate sequentially through an application or
document, or skip through a document by object. For example, you could jump to the next or previous header, button, link, field, graphic, or text attribute
such as font or style. Improved navigation in Leopard makes it faster and easier for those with reduced motor skills or visual disabilities to move around
the Mac.
Close captioned
Closed captioning
QuickTime currently supports closed captioning by including a text track alongside audio and video content. But improved QuickTime support will automatically
display the CEA-608 closed captioning text standard in analog broadcasts in the U.S.
All features referenced in the Mac OS X Leopard Sneak Peek are subject to change.
Multilingual Leopard
With support for foreign language add-on speech synthesizers, VoiceOver for Leopard speaks your language. VoiceOver even includes support for two-byte languages
such as Japanese and Chinese.
iChat, You Chat
iChat
iChat for Leopard speaks incoming messages automatically as they arrive, so anyone can chat.
Extend Your Reach
With support for the extended Apple keyboard, VoiceOver in Leopard lets you access common commands using the numeric keypad with one hand.
Sync to .Mac
Got a .Mac account? Come Leopard, all your VoiceOver preferences can follow you from Mac to Mac.
Does sound kinda cool.
I hope they still have all the singing voices on voice over though, they were kinda cool.
I have to say though that when i tried voice over on 10.4.something the navigation keys did seem a lil bit complex; i think they should introduce different configerations based on what screen reader you have used on your pc, for example instead of pressing ctrl function down or what ever it is, you press down like you would do with any other screen reader.
Btw, did you see the vista demo for voice to text? Theres a video on youtube but you'll need a sited person to discribe it as it is kinda visual.
BEN.
Ben, actually the advantage of the voiceover keyboard command structure is it is the same no matter weather you are using a laptop or desktip so no matter what mac you are using you don't have to learn a new command structure. I had heard that the vista voice recognition demo went rather badly as far as it not being able to accurately translate what the person was saying. Perhaps you could creat a top on vista and post your thoughts on the demo as well as a link where people could visit it and watch it. Take care.
I knew his Steveness wouldn't let us down!