OutSpoken is currently not being supported by Alva, the company that owns
it.  Alva has discontinued development for the new version of the Mac OS.

Other companies like Madenta have dropped their support of the Mac for
their products.  Apparently as new versions of the Mac OS do not support
accessibility and the company does not seem to be helping AT developers
redesining their products to support accessibility.

Many of the accessibility engineers at Apple moved to Microsoft in the late
90s as Apple down sized their accessibility division.

Jon


At 03:02 PM 1/2/2002 -0700, you wrote:

>OutSpoken is the major screen reader for Mac.  Do you find it difficult to
>use?
>I do agree with you that Apple has changed directions many times.  They
>have often reminded me of Atari.  Still, System 10 is a new direction, the
>new CPU is very good and Steve Jobs is back!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jim Rebman
>[<mailto:[log in to unmask]>mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 3:09 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Morse Code and the Mac
>
>I don't disagree with your comments vis a vis Microsoft and the facts of
>life why a particular OS is being supported by AT vendors, but two
>additional points are in order:
>
>1) Apple made a corporate level decision to cut staff and funding in the
>area of accessibility several years ago and that has definately hurt them
>outside the K-12 market.  Many of those let go such as Bob Glass, Earl
>Johnson, and Gary Moulton took their experiences to other places (Sun and
>Microsoft), where they have continued to do good work that benefits those
>of us who depend on these technologies.
>
>2) Apple is still the worst choice for a blind person who relies on a
>screen reader for access, and nothing substantial has been done about this
>in many years now.  Normally I wouldn't care because I have other choices,
>but it is the blind kids in schools who are forced to use Macs that bothers
>me (and yes, I know of a blind kid in our local school district who is
>lagging way behind his fellow students and who is basically unprepared to
>further his education or enter the workforce as anything other than a
>laborer because he can't use a computer effectively because his computer
>won't allow him the kind of access to software and information that his
>peers have)
>
> >>>>
>
>The Mac OS was accessible when Microsoft considered it an unnecessary
>expense. The first GUI screen reader was for the Mac. Mac still has the
>only system-based  text enlarger that actually separates the typing cursor
>from the viewing window, thus allowing a user to not only see something
>enlarged but also type something in as enlarged without having to change
>the font.
>
>------------------------------
>James A. Rebman
>
>Cognitive Levers Project
>Center for Life-Long Learning and Design
>Department of Computer Science
>University of Colorado, Boulder
>
>"In times of change, the learners will inherit the earth while the learned
>will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists."
>
>- Eric Hoffer

Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
MC-574
College of Applied Life Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL  61820

Voice: (217) 244-5870
Fax: (217) 333-0248

E-mail: [log in to unmask]

WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund
WWW: http://www.w3.org/wai/ua