Is JAWS Compatible with Mac OS X and its Built-In Zoom Feature?

By Owen7668, 13 April, 2016

Forum
Low Vision Accessibility on Apple Products

Hello, I am Owen. I am a visually impaired teen comsidering investing money into a macbook and or ipad pro. I am not sure if you will know the answer to this however, my question is, is jaws the screen reader compatible with osx and apple accessibillity such as magnifier like the one which is on windows. What this magnifer does as it sounds is it magnifies the whole screen, also say kind as the magnifier on the ipad. I understand that there are multiple magnifiers which come with the macbook, which is why i specified. If the screen reader does work which macbook would you recomend. I watch a video where a man said a macbook pro 17 inch would idealy be the best. Is that true and either way, what gb size, and speed would be best for me. This computer would be going to college with me. Would a ipad pro be better for what i need? Thank you have a great day

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Comments

By Michael Hansen on Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 22:29

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Hi Owen,

JAWS is not compatible with Mac OS X at all. JAWS is a Windows program, whereas Mac OS X is a completely different operating system. Programs written for Mac OS X can't run on Windows, and programs written for Windows can't run on Mac OS X.

Whether a Mac or iPad Pro would be better for you in the college environment is probably something you should start a new topic to ask about, as the current topic title about JAWS compatibility with OS X isn't likely to attract as many readers who would have an opinion on that question.

By Justin on Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 22:29

No.
as Michael said, JFW isn't compatible. VoiceOver is the only screen access solution, reader on the mac. It's built-in and free! I'd say that zoom does the same thing that you are looking for in a mac.The 17 inch pro is not being built anymore, stopped being built in 2011 I believe. I have a 15 inch mid 2012 pro that works well for my needs. I plan on sticking around the 15 inch macbook Pro for a while yet, hopefully get a new one over the summer this year.
Welcome to Applevis and hope this helps you.

By Toonhead on Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 22:29

Another thing to keep in mind is the cost. If you're low on cash, a Windows laptop will meet your needs if you're looking to use jaws. or, you could save even more money and use NVDA, which is a free screenreader. If you don't like the voice that comes with it, there are voices that can be purchased from several sites legally, such as blind bargains.com and such. You can get a good, solid windows laptop for around $500.00, whereas the MacBook will probably cost you anywhere from $1500 to $2000, depending on the configuration you want. If you're familiar with Windows and don't want to learn an entirely new operating system with a new set of voice commands, stick with Windows. If you're the adventurous type however, and want to dive in and get some experience with something new, go for the MacBook pro. Again, please keep in mind that the mac is a completely different operating system, completely separate from Windows. So, you're not going to be able to pick up a MacBook pro and just start using it like a windows machine. The MacBook pro does have documentation, though, so you do have that going for you.

By Carlos Taylor on Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 22:29

Not sure if you have applied for college, but if you are planning to take this computer to school with you, you definitely want to check with the school you plan to attend to see if Macs are ok. Depending on what you plan to study, some software is only available on Macs while others are only available on Windows computers. Yes, you can install Windows on Mac computers, but it is still a good idea to check and see what the school recommends.

By jcdjmac (not verified) on Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 22:29

no. but voiceover will work with zoom. however, if you want to use jaws, install vmware fusion with windows 10/7/8.1, then you could get jaws installed. I have vmware fusion installed with windows xp pro and NVDA.