Kliph,
How much about VoiceOver for a low-vision user do the Take Control books
actually cover? VoiceOver for a non-speech/low-vision user is a vastly
different experience than it is for those using text-to-speech
technology. That is, while VO is the only link between a blind user and
a Mac, a partially sighted not-legally-blind user has the advantage of
everything a display has to offer, most of which information is
non-transferable, only describable, to a text-to-speech user. I need
something that is specifically written to teach a user how to use the
visual features of VoiceOver without the TTS component.
I remember those "More with the Mac" programs. I have the highest
respect for John and what he's trying to achieve with these programs,
but I have two fundamental objections to them: One, they're audio only,
so not fit to purpose--not my purpose anyway--I did say screenreader
aside; two, the VoiceOver audio is probably 10dB louder than the
narrator, and way way too fast for a beginning TTS user. I need
something that's totally visual, no audio demos required. The audio
component can be added later if it's needed. If you're a Windows user or
know something about Windows access technology, think of ZoomText. It
focuses (literally and figuratively) on the visual display and how
things thereon are presented and augmented by the software, with a
text-to-speech component that, while not quite as good or versatile as a
full-blown screenreader, is a good side-by-side companion for the user
with low vision which can be turned on when required but is not needed
most of the time.
On 2/9/2024 12:03 PM, Kliph wrote:
You may want to try take control books. Or the below resource.
It’s that time of year, “More with the Mac!” This course will be
teaching you the basics, how to turn on, setup, and configure settings
with the VoiceOver screen reader. Email, messages, word processing,
folder management, and much much more! If you took John Panarese Mac
fall courses, there may be somethings you already covered, but we will
dive in to other area’s that may not have been gone over yet. John’s
sessions will continue in the spring, stay tuned for that announcement.
How do I take part in “More with the Mac?” You subscribe to the
TechTalk Coast2Coast Podcast
<http://tech-talk-coast2coast.sturitup.com>, and visit SturItUp.com
<https://SturItUp.com> and subscribe to the news letter. That way you
will get all recordings, and be notified when live sessions will
happen. Going forward, most new podcasts for this course will go up
Mondays at 2:00PM EST, 1:00PM CST starting February 5th, 2024. We will
start with 3 recorded sessions, and have a live interactive session to
be announced. If questions, comments, call for more, we will add them
as needed.
If you have any trouble subscribing to the podcast or news letter on
the website, send us an email
supp...@sturitup.com
God bless, and look forward to seeing you take part in this free Course.
Trainer Kliph
On Feb 9, 2024, at 8:04 AM, Steve Matzura <numb...@noisynotes.com> wrote:
Every resource I've found for learning to use a Mac with VoiceOver is
screenreader-centric. The iBook by Tim Sniffen is hopelessly out of
date--from 2014--and there have been so many changes and enhancements
to VO since then as to make this book almost useless. It's a good
book for what it is and how old it is, but put it into the hands of a
user today, and they'll run into differences quickly, which is very
confusing to a new learner of just about anything. So, screenreader
aside, I'm looking for a good current resource for learning the
features of VoiceOver written for those with vision problems who are
not legally blind but who need a little help in that area that
VoiceOver can provide--things like magnification, zoom, putting boxes
around focused items (which we know VO already does), that sort of
thing, along with all the standard VO navigation we screenreader
users already know and love, all from a visual perspective, not an
audio one.
Thanks in advance.
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