Category: Geeks r Us
Hi all! I would like to know what screenreaders you all use.
Rules
1. Type the name of your screenreader.
2. Tell other users what version of the screenreader you have.
3. Give your opinion on the screenreader.
4. Tell other users what programmes it works with and what programmes it doesn't work with.
5. Give some more information about your screenreader.
Here is an example so you know how to set your postsout:
I use JAWS 7.10.500u (JAWS 7.10).
It is very accessible and I can get around on the computer easily.
It works with alot of programmes including most Windows XP ones. It doesn't work with Samsung Media studio, Microsoft Publisher and more.
It has lots of features including configuration manager and dictionary manager.
Note: Typing in your version of the screenreader is optional.
Hi.
I use supernova v7.03 by dolphin computer access *hopes that dolphins google add will show up*.
Its really good imo - have used it for 8 going on 9 years and have thought of making the switch a few times in that time and have always come back to dolphin. Its got quite a bit of bad press from people; this is mainly because of people not liking the voice and not getting to grips with some of the more criptic hotkeys.
Pros:
Includes magnification, speech and braille in one package.
The included voices can go very fast with out clicking at all.
Works well with neally every application out of the box - we don't have to worry about scripts you see.
If you've come from jfw, zoomtext or we, you can use the hotkeys that you are used to for that application in either a desktop or laptop layout.
If you don't like the voice sapi4 or 5 synths are supported, so you can use what ever you want - this can be changed on the fly to.
Dolphin were the first company to make a portable version of there product.
The licence for the product is stored on the pen so you don't have to activate it on every computer.
It will work to a point when the display intersepter is not installed, typical situations when this might happen include when graphics drivers aren't installed - I just installed supernova and downloaded them from the ati site, pretty empressive i think.
hmmm there are more - 2 am probably isn't the best time to post this though.
Cons:
Network installation could do with more work put into it.
Internet navigation is a lot more simple if one reads the manual as some of the hotkeys aren't the first thing that you would think of pressing to perform a function, although its worth mensioning that you can get by alright on the internet with out reading the manual, you just won't be able to do everything that it can do.
Some applications need a bit of time to get working - virtual focus has to be used sometimes; I don't mind this though, at the end of the day, if for example i'm in vb, I don't really expect sn to spoon feed me everything - at the end of the day, i'm programming so pressing a few extra buttons should be trivial.
Will post back if I think of any others or if anyone has any questions.
Hi, I use window-eyes 5.5 at home and Window-eyes 6.1 at college. I think 5.5 is better all though it doesn't read grafics or anything like that. Niether does 6.1. Non of the vertions will work with power point I don't think so anyway. I haven't tried it but have hear from other users that it doesn't work. Both work with the internet but it depends how the websites are layed out.
I use Hal. I started out with 6.3 and then moved to 7.something and now ordered the version 8 upgrade. Hal, like Supernova, is made by Dolphin. I originally started using it because it's synthesizer, Orpheus, supports Modern Greek. It also has many other languages. However, most of the voices are very robatic if you're used to a more human-sounding voice. However, you can use other synthesizers (only SAPI 4 synthesizers work with Hal 6.) Version 6 doesn't require a licence, but I think the later ones do. If they're like Cicero, they only come with two licenses. Anyway, Hal works well with most programs except Skype and Internet Explorer. That is, you can use IE, but not as well as you can with JFW. However, I use WebbIE and solve that problem for most things. You could also set it to emulate the JFW keyboard commands. I'll update you on the use of Sapi 5 synthesizers when my upgrade comes in. Btw, Orpheus is now being made by another company.
Aside from Hal, and occasionally, JFW, I now have a Macbook running the Leopard opperating system and using the VoiceOver screenreader. I think this is the only one made for Mac. Like Narrator for Windows, it comes with all Macs. But that's where the similarities end. This is a fully-functioning screenreader. Since it's designed along with the opeerating system, most of the programs made by Apple are accessible. There are some third-party programs that are not, but on the whole, I'm very satisfied with this machine. The new voice, Allex, is absolutely incredible. it even blows Realspeak and Loquendo out of the water, and it breathes! Unless you have help for at least the first week or two, the commands take awhile to get used to. But once you do, they're not too difficult and the benefits definitely outweigh the initial frustration. Apple is very responsive when it comes to meeting the needs of the blind community, even if they don't have us as their primary consumers. The only drawback to VoiceOver is that it doesn't have a Greek synthesizer, though other languages are made for the mac by various companies. I'm hoping this will change, but in the meantime, I'm keeping Hal and my XP machine for that purpose.
Hi. I use JAWS 8.0.273u or whatever it is, as I use a Windows Vista laptop and of course, no older version of JAWS works at all well with Vista. The down side is that it doesn't like the menues in Microsoft Office 2007, so if and when I need to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Msaccess or whatever in the course of my iminant employment, I would certainly upgrade to JAWS 9. As a previous poster already said though, JAWS tels you everything on the screen, it has a dictionary feature, tutorials on cassette which apply to all versions of Jaws, whereas I'm sure screenreaders such as Window Eyes, however quick and easy they are to install, don't even have instructions in an accessible format like JAWS (with the acceptions of maybe Hal95 and Dolphin. Newer versions of JAWS are very good with your virus checkers, MP3 player/Olympus voice recorder software, Real Player 10.5, Internet Explorer 7 Etc which you'd normally use on your computer. I could never use Dolphin again though, it's absolutely useless for surfing the internet, so there are a lot of plus sides to using JAWS for someone with absolutely no vision like myself. JAWS can also be loaded on to a thumb drive so you can plug that in to the USB of any machine with a video intercept manager and you'd instantly have JAWS whenever and wherever you needed it. Also, JAWS doesn't talk in a stupid, unrealistic synthetic voice and sound like a dalek off Dr. Who. It expresses itself, just like human speech. That's what I like most about Jaws myself. JAWS also speaks around 16 different languages, from US English to French, from Spanish to Brazillian, from Finnish to Latin Americal Spanish, so it would suit nearly anyone in the world who required its services, with the acception of anyone with Arabic, Hindi or Gugerati as their first language though.
Jen.
I use Jaws 7.0.135 on Windows xp Pro, Voiceover for Mac OSX on an IMac, and Orca on Ubuntu.
Hey! i use JAWS9, (job access with speech if you don't know) on a vista home basic machine. it's ok, but i think all you pay for in jaws 9 is some modifications to a few scripts. I don't have a mac yet. hey, talking of alex, can someone send me a speech sample with all the cool features (i.e. him breathing in a sentense) and all that? thanks!