Blog Post by PaulMartz on Monday, January 20, 2020
Also in this series:
I've always used Audacity for digital recording projects, including ripping my vinyl collection for use in iTunes. A 64-bit Audacity build for Mac exists, but it doesn't work with VoiceOver. As a result, Audacity is no longer a viable option for blind Mac users.
Blog Post by PaulMartz on Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Blog Post by PaulMartz on Friday, March 6, 2020
Also in this series:
GarageBand makes it amazingly easy to create music. In this blog, I'll show you how to create the following blues-based rock jam. You don't need an instrument. You won't have to play a single note.
Blog Post by PaulMartz on Monday, October 19, 2020
Guide by David Woodbridge on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Finder Navigation
General
- New Finder window: Command-N
- Up one folder level: Command-Up-Arrow
- Open selected folder: Command-Down-Arrow
- Back: Command-left bracket
- Forward: Command-right bracket
Direct Folder Access
- Open the Applications folder: Command-Shift-A
- Open the Computer folder: Command-Shift-C
- Open desktop folder: Command-Shift-D
- Go to Folder: Command-Shift-G
- Open the Home folder of the currently logged-in user account: Command-Shift-H
Editing Commands
Guide by mehgcap on Saturday, April 19, 2014
Intro
Safari is the Mac's default web browser, and it does all the usual web browser things - opens webpages, downloads files, plays audio, all that. It has some neat tricks, too, like the Reader that can show you only the meat of an article.
However, if you are coming to the Mac for the first time, especially from a Windows background, Safari can seem like a clunky app at best, and a totally unusable mess at worst. As with all things on the Mac, though, you just have to understand how and why it does what it does. Eventually, you will be flying through webpages again, and there are even some nice tricks that VoiceOver can pull off to make your life easier.
Guide by mehgcap on Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Finder
Finder is the Mac's file browser. With it, you can look at files and folders on internal, external, and network drives; copy, cut, and paste items; tag files for easier locating later; search for files; and more. The problem is that, particularly for those transitioning to the Mac from Windows, Finder is a confusing mess that makes you scared to even go looking for a file. I understand that, because I was there too. Hopefully, in writing down what I've learned over the years, I can save you a lot of time and frustration, and let you get on with your Mac much better.
For Windows Users
If you are switching from Windows to Mac, there are a few things you should know about the Finder.
First, try very hard to get used to pressing command-o to open things. Pressing enter will prompt you to rename them, not open them. If you do accidentally press enter, simply press escape to cancel.
Guide by mehgcap on Friday, July 11, 2014
Intro
When you first get a Mac, and are learning VoiceOver, it can be hard to remember the myriad commands available. Some are pretty easy, like control-option-w to read the current word. Some are quite complex or seldom used, such as control-option-command-f5 to move the mouse pointer to where VoiceOver is focused. Then there are the core concepts, like interacting, moving around dialogs, getting to menus, and plenty more. So, I wanted to offer a guide that does not explain most of the commands and concepts, but rather tells you where to go if you need help. Mailing lists, books, online resources, and cheat sheets are great, but there are powerful help facilities built right into every Mac, just a keystroke or two away at any time. The trick is knowing how to access them.
Podcast by AppleVis on Monday, April 6, 2020
In this podcast, Tyler Stephen shows us how to share folders in iCloud Drive on a Mac running macOS Catalina 10.15.4 or later.
More information on sharing folders with iCloud Drive is available on this Apple Support page.
With folder sharing in iCloud Drive, you can share entire folders of files with friends, family, or colleagues. Then, you can work together on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or iCloud.com.
When you create and share a folder in iCloud Drive, participants can access all the files in that folder. If you add a file to a shared folder, it's automatically shared with all participants, too. You can also add or remove participants, edit sharing permissions, or stop sharing a folder anytime.
Guide by Tyler on Saturday, June 9, 2018
For iOS 16, macOS Ventura
Intro
If you have multiple Apple devices, you may know that there are many features that allow them to integrate with each other to keep content up-to-date across all of them. In this guide, I will give an overview of how iCloud, the service that facilitates this interconnection, can help you manage and sync your content, as well as how it can help protect your privacy and security. The good thing about it is once you have a few things set up, features largely work automatically with very little additional interaction required from you, the user.
Terminology
iCloud is the Apple service that allows Macs and iOS devices to keep content in sync between them. By default, you get 5GB of free storage space, upgradable up to 2TB, to store data such as documents, photos, emails, contacts, calendars, and more. With any paid storage plan, you get several additional features marketed collectively as iCloud+.
Podcast by AppleVis on Thursday, October 27, 2022
In this podcast, Tyler demonstrates the VoiceOver Text Checker on macOS, a feature that identifies common errors in typed text such as misspellings, repeated spaces, and misplaced capital letters.
This feature can be accessed via Keyboard Commander, and by default is mapped to the letter D. When in a text field, pressing this command should present menus for the types of errors identified in the text, such as misspellings, white space, etc.
Podcast by AppleVis on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In the eleventh of a series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to create and rename folders when using VoiceOver.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In the fifteenth of a series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to turn off the VoiceOver trackpad commander.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In the sixteenth of a series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to unmute VoiceOver speech if it has inadvertently been muted whilst running VoiceOver.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In the first of a series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to get VoiceOver running on any Mac laptop or desktop.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Thursday, December 13, 2012
In this edition of his series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge gives us an overview of the VoiceOver navigation commands.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Lion, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Thursday, December 13, 2012
In this edition of his series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to use auto spelling suggestions with VoiceOver.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Lion, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In the second of a series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to use the Keyboard Helper feature in OS X to familiarize yourself with the keyboard layout and functions.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.
Podcast by AppleVis on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
In the fifth of a series of podcasts intended to help new users of VoiceOver on the Mac, David Woodbridge shows us how to access and use the QuickNav feature.
These demonstrations were recorded on a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, but the procedure is still the same at the time of posting.