Review Contents: Accordance Bible Software 6.7
1. Introduction 2. Setup & Support 3. Interface 4. Performance		5. Features 6. Resources 7. Recommendations

Though I could not have imagined any way to substantially improve the previous interface in Accordance 5, the new tabbed workspace environment of Accordance 6 is remarkable. It is like Firefox or Safari to Internet Explorer and means an even more efficient use of screen real estate and an easier way to navigate between texts and resources.

The Accordance interface really is a paragon of efficient, powerful, and user-friendly design. There are simply not enough adjectives to adequately describe the experience of using Accordance Bible Software. Unlike other Bible software products that rely on multiple windows and require users to navigate through extensive menus to access core features, Accordance immediately opens to a simple yet powerful working environment with an integrated search and results window, an integrated resource and amplify palette, an instant details box, and a top menu. From this newly enhanced environment, users can open multiple search and reference panes in a single tab and can open multiple tabs within one workspace. These workspaces can be saved and set to open immediately on launch. From the workspace(s), users can then gather critical details about words and phrases, jump to parallel texts at the click of a button, access lexical and reference aids, conduct simple or complex (word and verse based) searches, generate an impressive array of statistics and graphs on those searches, and so on. Users with even the most basic computer knowledge will grow into this software quickly and easily; the interface is just that intuitive!

Part of the success of the Accordance interface is the way in which it focuses user attention on the primary texts. Other software programs, most notably Logos Series X, have interfaces that emphasize secondary texts, organizing and making accessible large libraries of texts on disparate topics. The emphasis on primary texts in Accordance means that users conduct intimate, self-directed research on primary texts (especially the Bible), unfiltered by secondary resources, except when users want to amplify their research with such resources.

In Accordance 6, the developers have more fully aquafied the interface over against their initial OS X releases, which should satisfy even the most discriminating OS X users. Notably, one area of significant improvement is the texts and graphics smoothing, especially for Bible Atlas and the Hebrew font, Yehudit; the appearance is, at least to my eyes, significantly improved. Indeed, I used to have text smoothing turned off but now I have it enabled all the time.

Despite the overwhelming pros of the Accordance interface, I have several pet peeves/suggestions concerning various aspects of the interface:

1. There are a couple of interface problems with the "Search All" results. The results are not delivered with a snippet of the search string in context, on occasion the results are not even visible when the search string is found in a book without proper headings or sub-headings, and stopping a "Search All" request does not yield partial results. This part of the interface needs immediate and significant improvement.
2. I would like some flexibility to personalize the resource and amplify palette so that I can place my own user-defined search groups as buttons on the palette or rename "My stuff" or other such things. This may seem minor but, for example, one source of personal frustration for me is that the NIDNTT, as a lexical aid, should be available in the Greek tool group not just the English tool group. It is possible to workaround the default by creating a user-defined search group but this user-defined search group can not be given its own button on the palette, which means I usually forget to use it and consequently do not make much use of the NIDNTT. In most programs I use, it is usually possible to readily personalize and customize palettes and toolbars in such ways so I'd like to see it in Accordance.
3. There is no consistency in the module names; some are partial titles, others are abbreviations, and still others are named by the author. Users should be able to change the module names to suit their own preferences.
4. The presentation of some modules is unattractive and/or inconvenient:
5. 1. This is especially the case in modules with graphics (pictures, charts, etc.). Graphics appear as thumbnails in modules, which users click on to open in a separate window/pane. The graphics should be delivered in their original size within the module or at least the thumbnails should be on their own lines, i.e. not inline with the text.
   2. In modules with Hebrew text interspersed with English text, the line-spacing/line-height is sometimes uneven, most likely as a result of the vowels. This should be corrected.
   3. In the browser pane, the expanded "Glossary" heading in the IVP Old Testament and New Testament commentaries opens to a long list of undefined (blank) sub-headings.
   4. Primary texts should have complete, non-versified, nicely formatted headings and superscriptions comparable to the print counterparts and these headings should be searchable. Not only would this improve the appearance of the modules but also their functionality.
5. Texts, particularly commentaries, in reference panes do not always scroll properly, e.g. when a user starts at the story of Josiah in 2Chr 34-35 with the IVP OT Commentary in the reference pane and uses the down arrow or scrolls down with the reference pane active, the commentary suddenly skips to other books. Strange things can also happen when the user uses the down arrow or scrolls down with the primary text panes active. These types of problems occur with various different combinations of primary texts and commentaries.