After some discussion betwen myself and a few other engineers in the apple realm, the issue regarding the use of the monitor isn't just a voiceover issue. it is the same for the entire system. Whether you're a PC or mac user, the system at start has to detect a working display, keyboard and mouse to continue running. in the case of the mac mini, at boot, the logic board and firmware check the display ports for a display, if it doesn't find one, it will continue but cause issues throughout the OS as it can't determine resolution settings for the OS to display what it needs, etc hence voiceover behaviour.
to do this, first off apple will need to write a new firmware revision to support this option, then fine tune support in voiceover to support this. until then, the best option is a cheap flat panel LCD monitor with a DVI or mini display port to DVI or VGA config. lew On 4 Jan 2012, at 14:10, Ricardo Walker wrote: > Hi, > > all screen readers, on any machine slows things down. Its just the nature of > the beast. As far as your mini goes, the lack of a monitor is definitely the > cause of most of your sorrows. If you hooked up a monitor, I think you would > get much better performance. If you don't want a monitor, a macbook air > might have been a better fit for you than a mini. Its just a fact of life > for the Mac Mini and voiceover users at this time. You need to have a > monitor hooked up to have a stable experience. This has been the case for > years now, and I don't see Apple doing anything about it anytime soon. I do > think when you shared your experiences with your Mac earlier in the thread > you should have specified you were using a Mac mini with no monitor. I think > not doing so was a little miss leading. > > JMO. > > Ricardo Walker > rwalker...@gmail.com > Twitter & Skype: rwalker296 > www.mobileaccess.org > > On Jan 3, 2012, at 11:36 PM, Alex Hall wrote: > >> I find it interesting that you specify that Macs are faster when a >> screen reader is not involved. Do you mean that you find vo slows >> things down, or just that screen readers make for inaccurate >> comparisons? I always figured the extreme sluggishness of my mini was >> due to its lack of a monitor... >> >> On 1/3/12, Ricardo Walker <rwalker...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> lol, >>> >>> I think your sighted friend is on drugs. :). I find the Mac to be just as >>> fas and more often than not faster when doing tasks than windows when a >>> screen reader is not involved. Man, You know how long it takes iTunes to >>> open on windows sometimes? smh. >>> >>> Ricardo Walker >>> rwalker...@gmail.com >>> Twitter & Skype: rwalker296 >>> www.mobileaccess.org >>> >>> On Jan 3, 2012, at 8:44 PM, Chuck wrote: >>> >>>> Thanks for the information. I do plan to use my PC and the Mac Mini in >>>> parallel until I get used to the Mac. I am familiar with voice over >>>> and zoom on the iPhone and iPad and I'm hoping that they translate as >>>> well to the Mac Mini. >>>> >>>> I have a sighted friend who also says that the Mac is a little more >>>> sluggish than the PC. I don't do any gaming, 90% of my computer uses >>>> buying online, word processing, and web development >>>> >>>> But having dealt with Zoom text for the last 15 years, I am totally >>>> frustrated with the program. I have to reboot it about five times >>>> every day in order to get the text smooting to work. And it no longer >>>> works with Internet Explorer nine. I'm sure that when they do finally >>>> fix it, they'll want another $150 for the update. >>>> Chuck >>>> >>>> On Jan 3, 6:22 pm, "Missy Hoppe" <melis...@fuse.net> wrote: >>>>> Very well said. I've had my mac since may, and although I've recently >>>>> become far more fond of Itunes than my bank account is >>>>> comfortable with, I just don't use it for daily tasks. I just can't get >>>>> comfortable with any of the word processing options, >>>>> and since I've been using a PC for close to 25 years, I'm always going to >>>>> be more comfortable on a windows platform. One of >>>>> my favorite activities, especially while I'm unemployed, is playing >>>>> games, and while I'm thrilled that the RS games client >>>>> works on the mac, there aren't any other options. I'm still hoping for a >>>>> truly accessible mud client; if atlantis is >>>>> accessible, I sure haven't figured out how to make it speak >>>>> automatically. >>>>> My other major task is writing/editing a story I've been working on for >>>>> several years now. I just can't get comfortable >>>>> working on my files using the mac, so just keep using good old wordpad on >>>>> the PC. >>>>> Since it cost me so much money, I have chosen to use the mac for things >>>>> that either don't work or I don't want to mess with >>>>> on my PC: adium, skype, itunes, and a couple of other similar things that >>>>> I can't remember at the moment. I figure that the >>>>> mac is a lot easier to fix if something goes wrong, and that's definitely >>>>> something I'll give Apple credit for; you can >>>>> install the operating system without any sighted assistance, and with >>>>> carbon copy cloner and time machine, it's easy to >>>>> restore your machine on the off chance that something catastrophic >>>>> happens. Another thing that I really love about the mac is >>>>> Growl. It essensially reads things that happen in the system tray: >>>>> changes in dropbox files for example. That's 1 thing my PC >>>>> can't do, or if it can, I don't know how to set it up, so the mac is >>>>> really awesome in that respect. >>>>> With all that being said, however, while I certainly like my mac a lot >>>>> more than I did when I first bought it, to be >>>>> perfectly honest, there's still a rather big part of me that regrets the >>>>> purchase. I eventually hope to get bootcamp and/or >>>>> VM fusion up and running, but so far, that just hasn't happened. >>>>> I hope this makes at least a little sense and that it helps you in your >>>>> decision. Sadly, I can't comment on the large print >>>>> side of things, but I've become moderately comfortable with using >>>>> Voiceover. Good luck in whatever decision you make, and I >>>>> hope this helps you out at least a little. >>>>> Missy >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>>>> [mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Alex Hall >>>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 8:01 PM >>>>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>>>> Subject: Re: Switching to a Mac from PC >>>>> >>>>> I got a Mini after hearing nothing but great things about the Mac and >>>>> VoiceOver. I can honestly say that I regret the >>>>> decision. I never understood editing, my system seemed sluggish compared >>>>> to NVDA with Windows, and web browsing is slow on >>>>> the Mac when using vo. Also, a lot of what I do on the pc is audio >>>>> gaming, and not so much as a good, accessible version of >>>>> Solitaire is available on the Mac, let alone shooting, strategy, or other >>>>> intensively audio games. >>>>> I am still willing to admit that a good, long skype session with someone >>>>> who is an experienced Mac user may help me, but as >>>>> of right now I almost never boot into Mac, using the Windows half of my >>>>> dual-booting mini almost exclusively. If you do >>>>> switch, make sure to either set up bootcamp or a virtual machine so you >>>>> can run Windows, because I can pretty much promise >>>>> that you will still be using Windows for a while after you start playing >>>>> with the mac. Sorry to be so negative, but that's my >>>>> experience so far. >>>>> >>>>> On 1/3/12, Red.Falcon <velocity.focu...@virginmedia.com> wrote: >>>>>> Hi Chuck! >>>>>> Although I do not use windows and never have! >>>>>> I have seen posts about the zoom and one thing the Mac cannot do is >>>>>> change colours! >>>>>> So its black on white or vice vursor! >>>>>> hth Colin >>>>> >>>>>> On 4 Jan 2012, at 00:05, Chuck wrote: >>>>> >>>>>>> Hello everyone, >>>>>>> I'm seriously considering switching to a Mac Mini from PC. >>>>>>> I intend to use both the zoom and voice over programs. >>>>>>> I am currently using a PC with Windows 7 and zoom text as my >>>>>>> magnification and reading software. >>>>>>> I would like to hear from those of you who have made the switch. >>>>>>> What pitfalls should I look for? Are there any trade-offs? >>>>>>> In your opinion after making the switch which is the better system? >>>>>>> Why? >>>>>>> Thanks. >>>>>>> Chuck >>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Have a great day, >>>>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website) >>>>> mehg...@gmail.com;http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit this group >>>>> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Have a great day, >> Alex (msg sent from GMail website) >> mehg...@gmail.com; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > Mr. L. Alexander. Free Macs For The Blind. E-Mail: freemacsfortheb...@mac-access.net Direct line: 07936 877500 Twitter: @macsfortheblind Free Macs For The blind is a charity project supplying older but working apple macs for blind and visually impaired people throughout the UK FOR FREE! Do you have an old unwanted mac, any hardware, software, old PC's, etc or a copy of outspoken 9.2 you would be willing to donate? please get in touch. Mac Access Dot Net; The British Mac Accessibility Network, we're here to help anybody disabled with anything Apple! http://www.mac-access.net -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
