ATMac

I thought I’d pass on the news that MacWorld just published an interesting news item about one of our very own, Giesbert Nijhuis. Giesbert has started selling his own line of T-Shirts under the label, AssistiveWear. Congratulations Giesbert!
You can check out the full article here.
- Paul Natsch

MacSpeech Dictate is a great program but learning so many commands at once can be intimidating. I’ve put together two documents to help you learn and remember all the global commands found in Dictate version 1.2.1.

VoiceOver is a screen reader primarily used by blind Mac OS X users, but sighted people also use it for a variety of reasons, either for themselves or to better support a blind user. So, where would one start with learning to use it?

Power’s what assistive technology gives us, really. The power to communicate, to read, to type, to plan, to play, to control things. The power to achieve things that we couldn’t otherwise achieve. Here are some ideas for gifts to empower assistive technology users.

Virtually all computer keyboards in English speaking countries are arranged so that the letter keys, if you read from the top-left, start of with QWERTY. What are the alternatives and why would you want to change anyway?

Most of the software we review and recommend at ATMac is created by individuals or companies with just a few employees. This “indy” software, as it’s known, is usually available to be tested before you buy it and very reasonably priced but if you want a bunch of different pieces of software it can still add up quickly. How can you best save money when you’re buying software?

One feature missing from the still-new MacSpeech Dictate program is the ability to control the mouse. This addition won’t let you control the movement of the mouse, but we can teach you how to use your voice for mouse clicks. For those who have the ability to move the mouse, this could make the difference between a usable computer system and an unusable computer system.

Switching to the Dvorak keyboard layout doesn’t cost anything but it does take time and effort. Here’s how to go about it, and why it’s worth the energy to do so.