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It’s been long understood that a third-party screen reader for Mac is possible in theory. But there has been little appetite to develop one because people have held the view that there would be scant interest in such a product given that Apple has built one into the operating system. As frustration mounts over what some Mac users perceive to be neglect of VoiceOver on MacOS, and the undeniable fact that there are longstanding serious defects that remain unaddressed, a developer is making a serious attempt to develop a viable VoiceOver alternative. We discuss what we know so far and consider the ramifications of having a choice of screen reader on the mac. What are your thoughts on this project, with the working title of Vosh? Share your views with our community, now spanning 113 countries.
In a short time, Be My AI has become a useful tool for many of us. Be My Eyes is seeking to generate revenue from the technology through the commercial arm of its business, which charges companies to be on the platform. In its first effort, it has teamed up with Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk. They claim that AI can solve the vast majority of support queries without the need for any human intervention, although human intervention is still available. I’ll demonstrate this technology and give it three fairly common questions. We’ll see how it goes.
There seem to be some very unhappy Victor Reader Stream 3 users out there who are wishing they’d not bought one. We hear from a couple more this week, including a detailed explanation of why one user has sold his new Stream and bought a SensePlayer instead. As always, I welcome your thoughts and experiences.
Isn’t it ironic, and more than a bit sad, when we find job advertisements for the provision of disability services which seem to do their best to exclude disabled people from applying? A listener has drawn my attention to one such example this week. We’ll go through the ad and I’m interested in how frequently you encounter incidents like this.
In the United States, a lot of people will be travelling for thanksgiving, and many more of us around the world will be doing so for the holidays next month. Understandably, we’ve talked about travel horror stories, usually due either to neglectful or overzealous airlines. But I have an amusing travel story this week. Perhaps it will encourage you to share some lighter, funnier stories of your own.
All this and much more in episode 258. The show thrives on your contributions, so do feel free to be in touch with your thoughts on these issues or anything new you want to raise.