I too need to jump in here with a few experiences. First, when I
bought my very first Mac Mini shortly after Tiger came out, I went to
the Apple Store. They had an employee there who was familiar with
VO...not an expert per se, but familiar enough to show me around and
answer the questions I had. A friend of mine who is considering
buying a Mac called Apple recently to talk to a sales rep via phone
about purchasing a Mac, and they too were somewhat versed. When I've
emailed the accessibility email address, I ahve always gotten
responses. Of late, those responses have been more candid than they
have been in the past, but I've generally always received adequate
information from emailing that address. All that being said, I've
also been to Apple stores where no one knew hardly anything of
VoiceOverbeyond its existence. I think Apple needs to market more at
the access tech conventions and with the blindness organizations. It
would be nice if more run-of-the-mill Apple employees knew more about
VO, but it is not realistic or even very practical for Apple to focus
their efforts on that aspect, IMO.
On 9 Nov 2007, at 09:51, John Panarese wrote:
Actually, I do have to jump in here, as you are generalizing a
bit too much. Without a doubt, Apple needs to get their people up
to speed in a lot of areas in regard to VoiceOver, but I have heard
of several people who have, indeed, gotten tech support from Apple
tech support and Apple Care for VO questions. In addition, I
personally know of Apple Stores that are actively seeking training
for their staff on VoiceOver. My local store, in fact, has two
people who can use VO and answer questions. Not the norm, I know,
but please do not make blanket statements that lack complete accuracy.
Take Care
John Panarese
