Chris a useful resource that I recommend checking out is www.macfortheblind.com
Hopefully you should enjoy that site. I love my Mac and I would love to get an iPhone but the voices i just don't simply understand them and the touch screen doesn't really appeal to me. The only thing I wish I could have on the Mac and IOS is elquance. If I had this I wouldn't go back to windows and before anyone asks this is not a blindness desire but is more needed for my hearing impairment. So if that day comes around I will be jumping around like crazy. So for now I use both platforms because of the above situation I have. Good luck with your research. Oh and by the way I brought a 13 inch Mac Book Pro. Just as a side note when I went the Apple store in blue water I noticed that the Mac Book Air has two USB ports which is the same as the Mac Book Pro. so all you need to think about is do you want a CD-ROM drive or not. Obviously I chose that but I don't know how much they are going to be around in Apple's line up of computers. Just so you know that. Thanks Daniel On 15 Jan 2012, at 13:00, David Griffith wrote: > I have had no need to use anything else but Preview, and reading has been > easy with this, but on the Mac you are spoilt for choice with PDF reading. > There are several programs available. So much so that PDF, which is a real > pain on the Windows side is a very reasonable format on the Mac side. Of > course if the PDF is graphic based and has no text then VO will struggle. > The robobraille file conversion can handle most of these graphics based > documents but I tend to duck back into Fusion and Kurzweil for these. > > David Griffith > -----Original Message----- > From: mac-access-boun...@mac-access.net > [mailto:mac-access-boun...@mac-access.net] On Behalf Of chris hallsworth > Sent: 15 January 2012 00:29 > To: Mac OSX & iOS Accessibility > Subject: Re: Switching to a mac > > So David, can you read PDFs fine on the mac? If so what app do you use? > I have heard of Preview, does this work well with VoiceOver? I suspect it > does since it is built in, but no harm in asking is there. > > On 14/01/2012 23:18, David Griffith wrote: >> I am sure that the Mac will provide a good experience for all the >> things you mention. >> >> I take the approach of using VM fusion with my Mac and I consider that >> I therefore have the best of both worlds. If I need to study a table I >> switch very quickly to Windows, Word and Jaws. If I need to read a PDF >> I use the Mac. >> I set up a boot camp partition but, if starting again from scratch, I >> would not now bother as fusion is a far better solution , including >> the capacity to install and set up Windows without sighted help. >> Once you get used to it file management is far easier on the Mac. >> There are differences but whenever I am in Windows I find myself >> wanting to use column view . >> Downloading files is very efficient and fast on the Mac in my >> experience but again it is completely different from Windows and you >> will need to learn different techniques if you want to monitor downloads. >> The main problem with picking up the Mac is that there are lots of >> information out there which is useful for visually impaired people but >> it tends not to be centralised as much as for the commercial Windows >> screen readers. However lists like this are invaluable as a learning > assistant. >> A big learning curve is ahead but I am sure you will enjoy it. >> >> David Griffith >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: mac-access-boun...@mac-access.net >> [mailto:mac-access-boun...@mac-access.net] On Behalf Of chris >> hallsworth >> Sent: 14 January 2012 17:15 >> To: Mac OSX& iOS Accessibility >> Subject: Switching to a mac >> >> Hello all. >> Well, I have been using the other operating system PCs since 1997, and >> it's time I now fancy a change of scenary. So in the future I am >> considering switching to a mac. It should allow me to do the following: >> 1. Browse websites such as Facebook. >> 2. Manage my e-mail. >> 3. Listen to and manage music. >> 4. Buy music from iTunes or other online stores like Play.com. >> 5. Do a very small amount of Word Processing, and I mean very small, >> with hardly any formatting or other complex requirements. >> I am looking into a laptop style mac. >> 6. I am willing to use the other operating system where necessary, >> either via bootcamp or a VM. So no issues there on that front. >> I am going to take my time with this research, so please comment with >> no rush necessary. >> Again, I just fancy a change since I have been using Windows PCs since > 1997. >> It kind of also makes sense since I have both an iPhone and iPod Touch. >> Thanks for any comments, good or bad, on this. It will be much > appreciated. >> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> >> >> To reply to this post, please address your message to >> mac-access@mac-access.net >> >> You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum > at >> either the list's own dedicated web archive: >> <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> >> or at the public Mail Archive: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. >> Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> >> >> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, >> virus and worm-free! >> >> Please remember to update your membership options periodically by >> visiting the list website at: >> <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> >> >> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> >> >> To reply to this post, please address your message to >> mac-access@mac-access.net >> >> You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum > at either the list's own dedicated web archive: >> <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> >> or at the public Mail Archive: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. >> Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> >> >> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free! >> >> Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting > the list website at: >> <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> >> > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> > > To reply to this post, please address your message to > mac-access@mac-access.net > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at > either the list's own dedicated web archive: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> > or at the public Mail Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. > Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> > > The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free! > > Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting > the list website at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> > > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> > > To reply to this post, please address your message to > mac-access@mac-access.net > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at > either the list's own dedicated web archive: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> > or at the public Mail Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. > Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> > > The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and > worm-free! > > Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting > the list website at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. 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