Archive for learning switch use
You are browsing the archives of learning switch use.
You are browsing the archives of learning switch use.
Marie-France Bru has written an excellent set of tutorials aimed at switch users who are new to Mac OS X, even new to computers, but who are willing to learn to use a computer so they can communicate. These excellent tutorials introduce the user to OS X and the Mac computer, as well as to the SwitchXS switch access program.
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Keyboard shortcuts are a quick way of getting many things done without needing to access the menus or the mouse. If you know to press command-s to save your work, you’ve used a keyboard shortcut. For people who primarily use a keyboard or a switch interface, using keyboard shortcuts can save a lot of time and effort.
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.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard might not make your computer look enormously different, but the hidden guts of the operating system have been extensively worked on. This has implications for assistive technology users - you’ll need to check that your assistive technology will work with Snow Leopard.
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.
OS X only offers US English text-to-speech voices, and they are not of a very high quality. Leopard’s “Alex” voice is a great improvement, but even that voice is jarring and mechanical to listen to for more than a few minutes and only offers American English. So what are your alternatives for text to speech?