I would like to request that all board members sent the following message to the posted email to request greater accessibility to the launch bar application. This application lets you open WebPages, application, recently worked on documents from application such as Text edit, or works and the like, select and paste from a history of clipboard items, play a iTunes album or song without having to open iTunes, and index folders of your choice so that you can search those folders fast. This is like a spotlight search, but to the second power. It makes using your Mac way better. If you have or have used, the feature of jaws, where you press, Insert spacebar, then the R key, then type in search term to search on a dictionary, or Wikipedia, then you will like this program. This program lets you search your dictionary application, Google search, and the Wikipedia site, among other sites, through one window. This makes using your Mac way efficient. The application runs for 35 dollars. It might sound expensive, but it is well worth it. Seems like everyone here knows how to use their mac here, to this will only enhance their Mac experience so that they have more time for other things, like playing with your child, being with your family, etc. I am not affiliated with the developer of this program; I just want it to be more accessible. I have sent the below message to them. However, since more attention will be given to this problem if more people point out the flaws of this program with voice over, we can get accessibility faster. I would greatly appreciated if you sent the following message to the below email. This email is there support email. If you have questions of how to use the program, just let me know, although it is limited right now, I am able to use it. Alfredo
Email the following to: launch...@obdev.at Topic: Question / Technical Problem Product Version: 5.2 Operating System: 10.6 CPU: Intel I am an apple voice over user and have a few questions and concerns regarding your launch bar application. I am one of the thousands of blind users that have switched to the Mac from windows, and learned from your application from the Mac power user podcasts, and decided that if my apple experience was to be productive then I had to get launch bar. I was not sure if the program was going to be accessible, but I tried it, and have count a few bumps on the way. At the first the program was totally inaccessible, the only 2 items that voice over recognized on the dash board window, where , the “checkbox” (which was a checkbox, and “button”, which was a button that if I pressed gave me menu options such as preferences, quit, etc. I then started messing around the preferences window of launch bar and, checked the box, “speak selected item” checkbox in the general area of the launch bar preferences. This enabled me to hear all he search results that I was getting when blindly typing into the launch bar search field. After this I found out that if I pressed the launch bar hotkey, which I configured to control-space, and launch bar was already running, I would be in in the launch bar window, then, although Voice over was unable to “see”, what I was trying on the search edit field, I was able to use it since I would get results when typing in websites, like, google.com, or, text, and then selecting the text edit application, then pressing space bar to see the list of previously open documents. Then I manage to look at my clipboard list. My concerns are the following: 1. I use voice over at a faster speech rate, than the speed at which you have your default when you checkbox the “speak selected item” option of the general preferences of the launch bar preferences. Because of this, it takes longer, thus it is less efficient, for me to use launch bar. If the speech rate is slow, a keystroke pressed, such as tab to move between the search results, takes longer. It would be a great option to either have the launch bar voice speed, be the same as the Voice over speech speed configured by the user account that is using the launch bar application. Alternatively, you can have a slider in the general preferences of launch bar, preferably after, the checkbox, “speak selected item”, checkbox that would increase the speech rate speed of launch bar. This is a deal breaker for me, meaning that if this feature cannot be implementing, then I cannot use launch bar to its full potential and would have to look elsewhere for alternatives to such a great program. 2. Inaccessible text edit field, on the launch bar window, either through the compact action menu checkbox checked or not (this features is an option of the appearance preferences of launch bar). This means that when I press control spacebar, Voice over, does not, “see”, what I am typing on the screen. This means that if I make a mistake when typing in a webpage, or application, or name of a document, I cannot efficiently backspace, since I would not know what I am deleting, as voice over does not read back what I have typed or deleted. It would greatly enhance the programs appeal to voice over users if they could hear and correct what they are typing into the search field of the launch bar window. I have only used launch bar for a limited time, but if I required typing more than 8 characters in the search edit field of the launch bar window, I might lose track of what I was typing, and make such an efficient tool, inefficient. 3. Navigation, I can currently navigate the laucnhbar window only with the tab key; enter key and the space bar key. The tab key gets me to the search results, the spacebar, brings up the submenu, and the enter key selects an option. However, since voice over is not “accessing” this features, I hear the options since I have selected the “speak selected item”, feature, but I cannot go back a search results easily, or cannot command voice over to read the search results character by character in case I did not understand what was spoken. I can cycle through he search results but only one way, the shift tab, is not supported. Usually shift tab will cycle through options in reverse order. It would be a great enhancement to its efficiency and accessibility if voice over were able to access he search results and the submenus (which are access with the space bar). By this I mean, that instead of just having the option to type the “tab” key, I can press the down arrow key, or the tab key, after typing in my search results, to go into the search results list, and then use the up and down arrow keys to select an option, or use, the left arrow or spacebar key to open a submenu, if it has one, and then use the enter key to selected that search result. I currently am a luster of 2 voices over Mac forums, and if these features are implemented I will personally make me responsible for advertising launch bar on these lists. There are currently about 1,000 users on this list. If launch bar is tweaked just a little bit to make it more accessible to be able to use it as efficiently as sighted users you will definitely increase your profits and market share. I would greatly appreciate if you contact me as soon as possible. I am available to beta test any launch bar software application which has voice over accessibility so an accessible launch bar application is ready for prime release. Sincerely, -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@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.
