I subscribe to a lot of mailing lists, mostly because amid the hundreds
of useless messages I get a day, there is the occasional nugget of
useful stuff.
One thread which shouldn't have gotten started on the GW Micro list but
did is, "Why is Window-Eyes superior to JAWS?" These are both screen
reader programs for the blind.
First, you don't ask a question like that on the Gw Micro list ... Or
you shouldn't be allowed to, at any rate. Of course, GW Micro loves it,
because it's yet another chance for loyal Window-Eyes users to bow down
and kiss GW Micro's feet, something Window-Eyes users are wont to do,
for whatever reason.
Now, I don't believe Window-Eyes to be the superior product, not by a
long shot. It's a good program, it's given thousands access to the
computer and it's done so satisfactorally for most of those people.
Great. But in my opinion, and this is an unsolicited, personal,
completely unscientific opinion which may not necessarily be shared by
anyone else, i.e. I'm not speaking on anyone else's behalf here but my
own, JAWS has a much more intuitive interface. It is, in my view, laid
out much more to look and feel like a part of Windows whan Window-Eyes,
which always, always feels like an add-on to me. JAWS feels like a
Windows screen reader to me, while Window-Eyes has always felt, and
continues to feel, like a Dos screen reader modified to work with
Windows. Yes, I have tried both. Until last year, I was a fully licensed
and up-to-date Window-Eyes user as well, though my screen reader of
choice has always been JAWS.
But, as obviously right as my opinions seem to me, it's a very objective
thing. On the GW Micro list, I am reading people say that they feel
Window-Eyes to be far superior, that they feel the WE interface to be
much more intuitive, and that to them JAWS seems like a Dos screen
reader modified to work with Windows while Window-Eyes has a more
Windows look and feel.
It's the stranges thing, two camps taking very opposite stances, and
both sides astounded that anyone could possible think otherwise.
