Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Older MAC for accessibility software or new windows based laptop or ?? (self.Blind)
submitted by lonelyfatoldsickgirl
I may be able to buy a new laptop and have it covered via an educational bursary. The problem is, I have an older mac (early 2009, 17" screen) that I love. Other than being old and not having all the latest software updates available to me because its so old, I really love it.
But I went to see accessibility services at my school today and they told me MAC's generally aren't the greatest for software like Jaws and (I forget the other options, I'm new to vision loss so I don't know whats available yet).
I have another appointment with the accessibility lab, so hopefully they will have more information for me. In the meantime, can I get some feedback on MAC's and PC's and using the accessibility software?
But I went to see accessibility services at my school today and they told me MAC's generally aren't the greatest for software like Jaws and (I forget the other options, I'm new to vision loss so I don't know whats available yet).
I have another appointment with the accessibility lab, so hopefully they will have more information for me. In the meantime, can I get some feedback on MAC's and PC's and using the accessibility software?
[deleted] 2 points 4y ago
[deleted]
lonelyfatoldsickgirl [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Thanks, I tried Voiceover but I really found it challenging, it would skip paragraphs and occasionally a whole page. Then I would be confused since it missed so much content. We tried different versions of the document I was having it read, but it was far from perfect. Since I'm new to vision loss, I'm not sure if this is as good as it gets? Or could it be something wonky with my macbook?
Plus I tried speech to text and it was so horrible, I was so embarrassed at the crap on my screen from me trying to have it type for me! Is this something that gets better with practise?
Plus I tried speech to text and it was so horrible, I was so embarrassed at the crap on my screen from me trying to have it type for me! Is this something that gets better with practise?
[deleted] 1 points 4y ago
[deleted]
TheFake_VIP_yt 1 points 4y ago
I realise this doesn't exactly answer your question but a lot of older macs can be ... persuaded ... to run newer versions of the macOS using a utility from dosdude1.com. VoiceOver is facing constant improvements, particularly in the last 4 years since El Cap, which I assume is the latest officially supported version of OS10 your mac supports, was released, so I'm wondering if, given you have the time and patience to get it all installed and working, whether a more up-to-date system might work for you.
Regarding mac vs windows accessibility, I, like lots of blind/VI people very much prefer voiceover and its ways of navigation and overall usage and on the whole I would definitely say macs are better for general usage than PCs (I can edit video blind on a mac, not on windows). That's said, for most tasks, a windows computer will work absolutely fine: I use the free NVDA screen reader, which has add on support and overall works great. And you should of course remember that you could run windows on your mac via bootcamp should you wish to use the accessibility software it offers.
Regarding mac vs windows accessibility, I, like lots of blind/VI people very much prefer voiceover and its ways of navigation and overall usage and on the whole I would definitely say macs are better for general usage than PCs (I can edit video blind on a mac, not on windows). That's said, for most tasks, a windows computer will work absolutely fine: I use the free NVDA screen reader, which has add on support and overall works great. And you should of course remember that you could run windows on your mac via bootcamp should you wish to use the accessibility software it offers.
annibear 1 points 4y ago
Tbh this may have been that I was taught on VoiceOver, but I've found it much simpler than JAWS. When I had to use JAWS for work a few years back I found it much less customizable than VoiceOver.
Not sure what your degree of vision loss is, but I also vastly used to prefer the Zoom feature on Mac to ZoomText on a PC. Plus I've heard Zoomtext can make PCs run pretty slowly. It's also pretty doable to use a combination of Zoom and VoiceOver on a Mac that may overload a PC.
Not sure what your degree of vision loss is, but I also vastly used to prefer the Zoom feature on Mac to ZoomText on a PC. Plus I've heard Zoomtext can make PCs run pretty slowly. It's also pretty doable to use a combination of Zoom and VoiceOver on a Mac that may overload a PC.
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