Mastering the Macintosh

How many times have you heard the following statement? “The Mac is great for working with email, web browsing and basic word processing. If, however, you want to get real work done, you will have to use Microsoft Office and a Windows Screen Reader.” In his new book, Mastering the Macintosh with VoiceOver, Tim Sniffen teaches VoiceOver users how to work with Apple’s Pages and Numbers software to accomplish the same advanced word processing and spreadsheet tasks that most people think can only be done using a windows screen reader. As Allison and Robert discuss this book with Tim, it becomes apparent that Tim’s years of experience and his passion for teaching access technology has enabled him to write a book demonstrating that a skilled VoiceOver user can indeed reach the same level of productivity on the Mac that can be achieved by an accomplished user of windows screen reading technology. In addition to building on what most Mac users already know as a result of having used an iOS device, Tim makes extensive use of such important Mac and VoiceOver features as the item chooser, custom keyboard shortcuts and custom trackpad gestures to accomplish such things as table creation and the building of sophisticated spreadsheets. Robert and Allison believe that Tim’s book is the perfect follow-up to Janet Ingber’s National Braille Press book called Learning the Mac with VoiceOver. Mastering the Macintosh with VoiceOver is for anyone who wants to move beyond the basics and explore just how much can actually be done with VoiceOver on the Mac. Tim’s book is available free of charge in the iBook Store. We recommend that you read the book on your iOS device while practicing what is being taught on your Mac. Thanks Tim for a great podcast and congratulations on the fabulous job that you did on this book. Keep pushing the access technology envelope.