[gui-talk] Voiceover

[qubit]

Hi all --
I just now read this very long and fascinating thread. I'm glad to hear 
about SnowLeopard, but have some concerns.
First, some very vocal persons on the blind programming lists has blasted 
the Mac as not providing any accessible support for software development.
On Windows there is Visual Studio, which has received a lot of attention 
both in and out of Microsoft to make it accessible. But at least according 
to a couple of persons who tried the Mac, it was significantly less 
attentive to the needs of persons who needed to do something really 
technical, like developing their own software.
I didn't read Kevin's articles. Perhaps there is mention their. Has anyone 
else looked into this?
Second, I purchased a used Mac book this year and am wanting to become 
proficient on it.  It has the disk partitioned partly for Leopard and part 
for Windows XP Pro, and switching back and forth is easy.
I am working on familiarizing myself with Leopard.
Now when I first got it and a nephew came to visit, he grabbed my Mac and 
started using it -- he's actually a bit of an Mac disciple -- and I asked 
him if he would show me how to do that with VoiceOver on.  After pausing a 
minute, he realized he was using the mouse solely and had no idea how I 
would use the keyboard to do the equivalent operations.
So I've been teaching myself.
As with windows, I have the concern that if I'm speaking to a sighted person 
about how to access or do something, my method would be significantly 
different from theirs, which might get in the way of conveying the needed 
information. This happens a lot when trying to help family members with 
their windows computers. Would Mac with VO be any better?
Have a great weekend!
--le