If you've bought a Mac in the last five years, it will be running Mac OS X, which includes a magnifier called Zoom and a screen reader called VoiceOver. VoiceOver is much more advanced than Narrator, its Windows equivalent.
Apple use versions of VoiceOver and Zoom on their touch screen devices like the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. This means once you've learnt to use them on one device, you can draw on this knowledge on the other devices.
Mac OS X has full keyboard access, although this is not switched on by default. Use Ctrl-F7 to toggle it on or off.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is the only screen reader, free or paid for, to provide speech output from the moment a new computer is switched on (or rather, if you don't do anything when the first screen comes on - which you won't, if you can't see it's there - after about 30 seconds a spoken prompt tells you how to switch VoiceOver on and then offers you a tutorial in how to use it). This allows a blind user to set up a Mac computer unaided, which can be a liberating feeling.
A second advantage VoiceOver has over its Windows alternatives is that it works with more areas of the interface. Most notably, informative text that cannot be altered, known as "static text", which is usually completely ignored by Windows screen readers, is dealt with just like any other screen content.
VoiceOver works with the main Mac OS X utilities such as Finder, Safari, Mail and TextEdit, and has seen great improvement since it was first introduced in 2005. An increasing number of blind computer users are switching to Macs for this reason. VoiceOver is highly configurable and the default voice is very clear.
VoiceOver can be toggled on or off by pressing Cmd-F5. Note that if you have a laptop, you may have to use Cmd-Fn-F5. VoiceOver can also be set to run automatically at the login prompt. The first time VoiceOver starts, a tutorial also begins. At any subsequent time, the tutorial can be started by pressing Cmd-Opt-F8.
VoiceOver commands are based on holding down the Option and Control keys and then tapping with one or more keys. Many commands need you to press at least four keys, which can make them difficult to remember and cumbersome to perform. However, there are alternative ways to interact with and control VoiceOver:
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QuickNav involves using only the four arrow keys. Press Left and Right together to turn it on or off.
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Gestures on a track pad can also be used. A laptop comes with a track pad, and it is also possible to buy one to work with a desktop computer.
The latest release of Mac OS X, Mountain Lion, includes a number of features that started likfe on their handheld devices - the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch - and are now available on the desktop or laptop. One major advance is the ability to dictate wherever you can type. The ability to select text on a web page has been improved, and you can also now access status bar menus for third party applications like Dropbox.
Zoom
Zoom can be turned on by holding down the Ctrl key and dragging two fingers up the trackpad or Magic Mouse. Prior to the latest release of OS X, Mountain Lion, you could use the shortcut Cmd-Opt-8, but with Mountain Lion you have to enable the shortcut first.
Zoom defaults to x2 with image smoothing and tracking of the keyboard focus. Magnification goes up to x20. There is a lens mode called "Zoom in window".
There are three colour features:
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A choice between black text on a white background (the standard) or it's reverse. This setting can be toggled with Cmd-Opt-Ctrl-8.
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A grayscale option that removes all colours from the screen.
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A contrast control that enables you to choose the amount of contrast between the foreground and background colours.
Other options in Mac OS X allow you to magnify the mouse pointer ("cursor").
Zoom can be run at the same time as VoiceOver, and can be set to come on at the login screen or after login.
Other free magnification applications
There are a number of restricted magnification applications for Mac OS X, such as:
Virtual magnifying glass - similar to the version described in the Windows magnification section, but without the dynamic mode. Magnification up to 16x is available, but it freezes frequently and does not magnify the menu bar which is required in order to change any settings.
Macnifier - an around the mouse magnifier which opens as two small windows. One has controls for magnification and speed, while the second shows a magnified view of part of the screen with a cross at its centre to indicate the location of the mouse pointer. Note that if you have a newer Intel Mac, the install downloads and installs Rosetta to allow the software to run. Mac OS X Lion does not support Rosetta, and so Macnifier will not run on it.