Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Stepping Over The Threshold: Windows 10 In 10,000 Words, Thoroughly Reviewed by Tamas Geczy is an excellent article! This will help me in my decision to upgrade in the future.
Sincerely,
Kate Morse
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I noticed lately that Leo Laporte has been recommending Chromebooks to average users instead of Macs or Windows laptops.
His rationale is sound: the Chromebook is stable, simple, and most everything you want to do nowadays as an average user is on the web. Plus, its PowerWash feature makes it a snap to fully erase it and start again.
I work at a college, and after helping many students struggle with complex applications, Windows glitches, and browser craziness, I'd like to start recommending Chromebooks too. I'd especially like a device with a "power-wash" I could loan to students like a library book; it would be so easy to erase their stuff to get it ready for the next borrower. And all any borrower would need is a Google account. They could install whatever apps they need.
But, I don't believe the ChromeBook is a truly accessible thing. Eighty percent of my students are sighted, but how can I in good conscience as a blind person recommend an inaccessible device?
I tried ChromeVox a couple years ago, and though it could read text and move to elements, I couldn't figure out how it could actually make any Google apps accessible. I would often Tab around some site or app and ChromeVox wouldn't utter a peep.
I was, however using it on Windows, and I keep wondering if it's better on a ChromeBook.
Can the AccessWorld authors get hold of a modern ChromeBook and do some testing, both for speech and magnification users?
Deborah Armstrong
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I'm mildly frustrated there was no discussion of any spell check feature in Bill Holton's September 2015 article, Office for Mac 2016: A First Look at Accessibility.
I've completely kicked Pages to the curb on my iPad, replacing it completely with Word. But, I had hoped I could learn something regarding the accessibility of the spell check feature on the Mac. I'm aware of the keystroke that initiates a spell check in Mac mail, and I assume the same keystroke works in Word 16 for Mac, but it would have been helpful to get that confirmation. Having said that, I understand better than most the cruel taskmaster that is a word count. I've no doubt you were hard against it, and clearly you thought through what could be most profitably included for the benefit of the largest number of readers.
Sincerely,
Nolan Crabb
Response from AccessWorld author, Bill Holton
Thanks for your e-mail. You are correct. I did miss adding spell checking to the article.
I found it best to use the usual Apple/VoiceOver spell commands. These are Command+Option+CTRL+E and Shift+Command+Option+CTRL+E to locate the next and previous misspelled word respectively. Once a misspelled word is located, alternate spellings are available using the Shift+Option+CTRL shortcut menu hotkey.
