Please read the message I responded to. What it has to do with switching to the mac is, screen readers are complex and complicated to learn, especially for someone who has never used a screen reader before. That said, even most people who used screen readers on windows struggle quite a bit when they first transition to the mac because the screen reader interface is completely different. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that the person switching have lots of patience, especially with themselves, because it takes lots of mental energy / focus to learn something completely new. It also takes lots of repetition.
The last point, comparing print and braille, was a direct response to the person's confusion about why she has found it easier to learn braille than learning VoiceOver. David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: dchitten...@gmail.com Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone > On 7 Apr 2014, at 8:49, Kerri <shalo...@shaw.ca> wrote: > > but what does this have to do with switching in all due respect? > > *** > "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshiped as gods. They have never > forgotten this." > > > > > >> On Apr 6, 2014, at 7:56 AM, David Chittenden <dchitten...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Screen readers are complicated to learn. They require one to think very >> differently about accessing computers. Newly blind people can easily spend >> months learning the extremely different interface that the screen reader >> provides. It is not at all intuitive. It requires an extreme amount of >> memorisation. >> >> Learning braille, on the other hand, is comparably easier. The structure is >> quite similar to print. The main differences are, learning dot patterns >> rather than line and curl patterns, and learning to feel rather than see the >> symbols. >> >> David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA >> Email: dchitten...@gmail.com >> Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On 6 Apr 2014, at 21:52, April <aprilbrownsh...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> Hello. About ten months ago, I was declared legally blind. I have been on >>> the search for a full diagnosis and prognosis since. No luck. >>> >>> In December, when my Windows 7 machine became totally unstable, and had >>> been reformatted three times in less than a month, I bought a Mac. I >>> figured, if I had to learn a screen reader, it was best to do so on one >>> where the screen reader came built in. >>> >>> So far, no luck learning how to use the screen reader though. I can turn >>> on and off. That's about it. I have a 40 page list of random commands, >>> and can't figure out what any of the are supposed to do. A dictionary >>> would help. Perhaps the lines above or below that don't make sense are >>> supposed to tell me what they do? >>> >>> I used to be a web designer, and I thought a screen reader should be easy >>> to learn to use. After all, I'm good with with computers. >>> >>> I'm also horrible with foreign languages, and figured braille would be >>> impossible to learn. I started the first contracted braille book I'm >>> reading last night. I started learning braille last November. >>> >>> I still use a Windows 7 computer at night. It takes about 15 minutes to >>> turn on, and every scroll of the screen takes forever. I don't count on it >>> for anything. >>> >>>> On Saturday, April 5, 2014 4:11:11 PM UTC-4, Scott Duck wrote: >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> As I have said, I am thinking about switching to the Mac and have been >>>> trying to gather more information about it. To that end, I have been >>>> asking specific questions. I will continue to do that but I would like >>>> some general feedback from people who have made the switch from Windows to >>>> the Mac. Why did you switch In the first place? Having switched, do you >>>> feel that it was the right choice for you? Do any of you regret having >>>> switched or have you even gone back to the PC? >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> Scott Duck >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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