Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.3 with VoiceOver Enhancements
28 May, 2008 @ 11:18 am by LioncourtToday, Apple release Ma OS X 10.5.3, which contains a significant number of enhancements and fixes for the operating system, including VoiceOver. Some changes in VoiceOver include:
- Braille Update 1.0 which enables GW Micro, HandyTech, HIMS, Nippon, and Papenmeier Refreshable Braille displays.
- Addresses an issue with Braille dot 7 and 8 underlining.
- Fixes an issue in which HTML page anchors may be ignored by the VoiceOver cursor.
- Fixes an issue that prevented Hot Spots from being used in text areas.
- Resolves an issue with spell checking in which VoiceOver may only announce the first misspelled word if there are multiple words spelled incorrectly.
We’ve also noticed that Voiceover no longer crashed in the "Get Info" dialog for folders and volumes when navigating to the "Sharing and Permissions" section.
There may be other improvements as well. We’ll keep you up to date if we find them. You can let us know as well.
As always, you can update to the latest version of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard through "Apple Menu->Software Update".
Bert Patterson observed:
Self disclosure: I am partially sighted, with tunnel vision, and bothered by strong light and light colors. Primarily, I use Zoom at 4 power, and white-on-black (reverse video) with magnified mouse pointer and short-cut keys. But I also use VoiceOver in Tiled Visual mode with both the VoiceOver cursor magnified and the caption panel displayed with magnified text, with voice usually silent. VoiceOver is nicely progressive from fully sighted to totally blind.
An improvement I have encountered so far in Mac OS 10.5.3 is updated drivers for graphic cards. The iMac I use has a ATI Radeon HD2600. Previously, in Zoom, the screen would unpredictably shift as I moved the mouse pointer; now it is much smoother. In VoiceOver Tiled Visuals mode, the magnified VoiceOver cursor also is smoother, and some skipping as I moved around menus via the keyboard is now gone.
I was made aware of the driver updates for graphic cards by reading a Macworld news article.
Bert Patterson replied:
After checking, and re-checking an error in VoiceOver that still exists after this Mac OS 10.5.3 update, I am in a quandary. I do not know the reporting procedure to report bugs in VoiceOver and have not been able to find it. I am not expecting a response from Apple. Can Lioncourt.com post the procedure, if known and available? Thanks.
Bert Patterson wrote:
Regarding how to submit a bug report about accessibility and VoiceOver to Apple - enter the following web address:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html/
There are two pop-up menus of interest:
Feedback Type - select ‘Bug Report’
Feedback Area - select ‘Universal Access / Accessibility’
Fill in the required fields and provide an accurate and complete comment about the bug. I hope you will be civil, and do not expect a response from Apple regarding the bug report.