Memoirs of a Blind Switcher

by John Panarese

As blind users investigate or actually make the switch from Windows to the Mac, there has been a lot of discussion about the aspects of this change on the blind Mac users email lists. This is, in no way, an attempt at a tutorial or any kind of technical document. Reading about the common problems and difficulties and, of course, successes encountered by new Mac users has prompted me to think about my own personal experiences involved in learning VoiceOver and the Mac. Below are some of my reflections on this subject, which I hope might help or assist, or, at the very least, give encouragement to current or future switchers.

In 1996 or so, I reluctantly took the leap from DOS and command line computer use to Windows. At that time, it happened to be Windows 95, and after all the horror stories I had heard and warnings from other blind people about trying to use a GUI, I was extremely uncomfortable and apprehensive. Slimware Window-Bridge was my screen reader of choice, which I literally learned at the same time as Windows 95 completely on my own without training. I won’t try to convince anyone that it was an easy or smooth transition, yet I persisted and slowly became more and more comfortable with the whole experience to the point in which I was soon giving technical support help to customers.

Well, Window-Bridge became JAWS for a while, which eventually became Window-Eyes for my screen access use as the years passed and screen reader technology progressed. Simultaneously, I made the jumps from Windows 95 to Windows 98 to Windows ME to Windows 2000 and then Windows XP (I won’t touch Windows Vista at this point at all). All along, I dealt with the unexpected and frustrating crashes, the constant concerns for security, viruses and spyware, and all of the other insane elements of using a Windows computer that folks have seemingly just come to accept as the “norm”. I have conducted my daily business tasks and my personal hobbies via a computer, and, to be honest, I have to say that my proficiency in utilizing a computer is probably more advanced and technical than most sighted folks by necessity more than by choice. Frankly, it has simply come with the territory that I had to become much more familiar with the nuts and bolts of the operating system and applications and their interactions with the operating system, and not a case of me trying to brag or boast.

So, in April of 2005, I heard that Apple had included VoiceOver, their screen access solution, as a part of their latest version of OS X, called, Tiger. I had read material about VoiceOver a few Mac user friends had sent me, and being that I had family and friends on Macs for many years happily computing without all of the problems and frustrations that I was experiencing as a Windows user, it very much intrigued me. I liked the fact that VoiceOver was a part of the operating system and not a bolt on, third party product. Furthermore, the fact that Apple was doing the development and support very much increased my enthusiasm and anticipation for trying it out. Apple had been doing some fantastic things since the launch of the iMac in 1999 and I had always heard that their hardware and OS was continually well ahead of Windows PCs.

I can still remember trying out VoiceOver for the very first time on a friend’s computer a few days after Tiger was released. I had also heard a review on ACB radio done by Jerry Halatyn that had only increased my excitement and desire to learn the Mac. I was so sick of all of the little annoyances I faced as a Windows user and how so many people would say things like, “well, it’s just Windows, and everyone has to deal with it”. Checking out VoiceOver that initial time, I quickly realized that I wouldn’t have to “deal with it” for much longer when it came to having to rely on Windows for my computer use. It would just be a matter of getting my hands on a Mac and actually learning how to use VoiceOver.

Within a few weeks after that, I took the plunge and purchased an iBook G4 laptop. There was a little trepidation in me, as in those early days, there wasn’t much documentation around to help the new VoiceOver user. Fortunately, through Jerry’s review, I also learned about the Mac Visionaries website and email list, which proved to be valuable beyond words as the weeks and months passed. So many questions and curiosities were answered or solved via that list either by my own posts or reading posts from other Mac users going through the same experience as I was.

Now turning the clock ahead over two years, I am currently doing just about everything on my Mac. My iBook was replaced by a MacBook in March of 2007, and I am looking forward to the release of the next version of the Mac OS, OS 10.5 Leopard, which is coming in October. Added features to the OS will also include improvements and advancements to VoiceOver, which, according to information on the Apple website, includes Refreshable Braille display support. Yes, as a happy Mac user, I can hardly believe it has been two years, and just how many of the Mac myths I used to hear have proven to be completely inaccurate. In fact, it very much reminds me of all of the stories I had encountered about Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 at the time I made the jump to that platform.

What I really wanted to touch on in this document is the HOW in regard to my two plus years of VoiceOver use. How does one make the jump from Windows to the Mac? How is VoiceOver like Window-Eyes or JAWS? How is VoiceOver different from Window-Eyes or JAWS? How is Mac OS X different from Windows? How is Mac OS X similar to Windows? How did I learn a completely different operating system and screen access solution? I certainly cannot answer all of these questions in detail, but I will attempt to give some insight into what I discovered or experienced.

If I were to say that it was an easy transition that took no time to accomplish and did not include any moments of frustration, I’d be flat out lying. In truth, the road was not always smooth nor was my blood pressure always low. There was surely a learning curve and a totally new way of doing things. For one thing, becoming familiar with OS X itself was somewhat different, as much as I can say that a familiarity with folder structures and using applications was very helpful. Also, elements like menus, dialog boxes and edit fields and lists also carried over, but the VoiceOver approach to dealing with it all was often unique. Having to “interact” with text, HTML areas or items was a bit odd and confusing to me, along with the inclusion of the VoiceOver modifier keys, control and option, with the arrow keys or letters to accomplish tasks like navigation. All in all, my immediate reaction was that as much as I had known about computer use, I would still have a bit of new learning to experience ahead of me.

Again, I am not making an attempt here to deal with every aspect of VoiceOver and the Mac by any stretch. It is really like anything else that is new to you. One simply has to use it and become familiar with both the operating system and VoiceOver. There is currently plenty of material out there to assist in learning both OS X and VoiceOver available on the Apple website under the OS X accessibility link, and there are also currently three active email lists for blind Mac users out there. Thus, compared to when I first took the plunge, there are plenty of helpful resources available to aid you in the transition to a better computing life.

It must be stressed again that all Mac computers running OS X Tiger or Leopard come with VoiceOver built into it. One simply toggles VoiceOver on or off by pressing the command key (the alt key on a Windows keyboard) and F5. Once VoiceOver is started, one then can customize it by opening the VoiceOver Utility with the standard VoiceOver modifyer keys, control and option (option being the key to the left and right on a Windows keyboard) and F8. Since there are several different voices to choose from, one can change to the one most preferible, as well as alter the speed and pitch of the voice. Verboscity options, navigation preferences and visual display changes for partially sighted folks can all be accessed via the VoiceOver Utility.

Once the user has made all the changes they desire, they can then move on to use their Mac. All of the VoiceOver commands remain consistent throughout the OS and applications, and one will learn that there are VO commands that will enable one quicker access to various parts of the system as they go along. For example, the VO keys and the letter m will open a menu, while the VO keys, shift and d will take one directly to the desktop and the VO keys and d will open the dock. The arrow keys combined with the VO keys are utilized for navigation, though I must also point out that one will find that the tab key and arrow keys alone will work similarly to how they do in Windows in a lot of instances.

I will tell you that one of the most important recommendations that I can make to a new Mac user or one contemplating a switch is you MUST leave your Windows screen reader experience completely behind you. This is truly the biggest psychological hurdle one needs to achieve. Yes, in essence, VoiceOver and the Windows screen readers are designed to give the blind user access to the computer, but one simply cannot approach the Mac and VoiceOver continuously expecting and believing that they are going to be able to apply their Windows knowledge to the Mac. It will only result in greater frustration and confusion. For example, navigating the web was initially one of my greatest challenges and probably the most difficult few weeks of my experience. This was because I expected it to work like Window-Eyes and found myself going round and round with my inability to grasp that I was thinking like a Windows user. Once I realized that I had to just learn how VoiceOver works on the internet, made a few changes to the Safari web browser’s preferences and got familiar with just how to view a website, it suddenly enabled me to begin to do all my daily activities involving the internet on my Mac. This includes accessing forums, making purchases online, and viewing and searching for specific information.

The other critical piece of advice I can offer is that one has to cast aside all of the negative things and misinformation that has become all too common in the blindness community in regard to the Mac. For instance, an article in the September 2005 issue of Access World is often referenced by those people looking to cast the most negative light on the Mac. In reality, the article was one of the most poorly researched and inaccurate reviews I have ever encountered in my nearly fourteen years in the adaptive technology industry. There have been similar efforts put forth since, as well as even resolutions presented by blindness organizations directed at Apple. Overall, however, there is little truth or fact to all of these items, and it simply amazes me that Apple’s efforts to make their OS accessible to the blind is actually condemned and belittled by some.

In regard to some of the misinformation I have read and heard about using a Mac from a blind person’s perspective is that there are not many or even any keyboard shortcuts compared to Windows. Beyond the keyboard access provided for VoiceOver, there are, in fact, a number of keyboard commands that one can take advantage of. For instance, the command key and letter o opens applications or folders, while command w closes a window. In mail, command, shift and d will
send a message you have composed, and command s will save a message as a draft or save a document if it is employed in Text Edit. There are shortcut commands to restart or turn off your system, as well as a variety of others that can be utilized in applications. My point here is that there is no truth at all to the idea that OS X does not have keyboard shortcuts in the same ways as Windows provides.

When it comes to the three major uses most people desire from their computer, email, internet browsing and word processing, again, let us counter the myths that state that one cannot accomplish these tasks on a Mac as a blind user. The Mac email program, Apple Mail, is completely accessible with VoiceOver, and the application gives you the same functionality as Outlook or any other Windows mail client. Similarly, Safari, the Mac web Browser, works just as effectively as Internet Explorer or Firefox in Windows with only a few small preference changes needed by the user. Lastly, Text Edit is a solid, robust word processing program that will even allow you to open Word documents and save in Microsoft RTF format. Thus, right off the bat, aside from not paying extra money for a screen reader, the new Mac user has access to the major features of their system just as they do with a Windows screen reader in Windows.

Is accessibility perfect on the Mac? No, there are, as with Windows even today, areas lacking full access on the Mac. If one wants to find areas of weakness in regard to any product or item, they surely can do so. The Mac is no different. Nevertheless, in my two years using VoiceOver, Apple has continued to improve accessibility and, additionally, encourages third party developers to take advantage of accessibility features available in the native programming language for Mac OS X, Coco. One of the most notable improvements and advances to accessibility I have witnessed came with iTunes in the version 7.1 release last spring. Apple is fully aware of accessibility issues, and from what can be read concerning what one can expect in Leopard, VoiceOver and accessibility will be greatly enhanced.

It sounds a bit lame or simplistic, but, overall, if I could learn how to use a Mac, anyone can accomplish it and master it as well. There are plenty of resources on this website to help you, as well as pointers and information that is not commonly presented in a lot of places. The Mac is, indeed, a very viable option for computer access, and just like using Windows, it is really a matter of sitting down and patiently giving it a shot with an open mind. Believe me, just the absence of all of the crashes and security issues alone truly makes the Mac worth switching to, regardless of whether or not you are blind.

John Panarese is the founder of Technologies for the Visually Impaired, (www.TVI-Web.com), a vendor of access technology for the blind and visually impaired for more than a decade, as well as a contributor to Lioncourt.com