Are there any amazing features for people with disabilities not available in Windows?

Question

I do volunteer work at a group in Tokyo which provides English conversation and light computer lessons for people with various kinds of disabilities on Sundays at a community center.
They want me to come in on Sundays for a few months and teach people - such as their other teachers - how to use Apple computers. And they bought all the teachers, including me, new MacBook Airs or MacBook Pros.
The thing is, these people are basically all Windows users, and they seem, somehow, to use their Windows machines just fine with varying disabilities. In particular, some portion of the group are blind. There is a Mac enthusiast who has gotten it into his mind that he wants more of his fellow members using Macs, rather than Windows, so he is behind this new project.
I know there are "accessibility features" for the Mac, though I've not really made use of them myself except for some light testing so far to see that they work.
My question is "why Mac?" I am a Mac user myself, and I enjoy using a Mac. But I think it is probably a matter of what you are used to. If these people are happy using their Windows machines I don't know of anything I can say to make them want to switch. So I'm not sure how practical or productive the entire plan is, though I'm happy to try to help out, and I enjoy working with the group.
I can certainly teach these people, who are not familiar with Macs, how to use them. I've been using Macs for years and years.
But is there anything I can say about why Mac features for people with disabilities are better than Windows features? Any examples anybody can point me to?
Like I said, I'm happy to go over there on Sundays and help out and bring my new MacBook Pro over and hook it up to the projector and point out interesting things you can do on the Mac and answer questions.
But the big question that I can't answer is, "Are there benefits to using a Mac over Windows for people with disabilities?" If anybody knows of any, please let me know! I don't want the person promoting this project to feel it was a waste at all. I think basically he feels left out being basically the only Mac user there and wants to generate more of a circle of supportive people around him who are Mac users since he himself is losing his sight. So if there are factual, practical reasons for "Why Mac for people with disabilities" I would like to explain them.
Thanks,
Doug

Answer 1

Hi Doug
It sounds like you are doing a good job with your technology students. I've been an Apple Mac user for well over 30 years and occasionally had to use Windows when using MS Access.  To my mind, the Mac is much easier to use from the "Starting Grid" than Windows.  And having worked in a University with both platforms, the cult is fairly evenly balanced.  However, the current generations of Apple Tablets are infinately easier to understand than OSX or Win7/8.    I think there is an old saying here which has many merits "If it ain't broke" don't try and fix it".   If your students are learning to understand Windows and are coping with it, the confusion of teaching them Mac, might actually give yourself a potential nightmare scenario.  Certainly Microsoft with Windows 8, is trying to bring the latest operating system into the 21st Century, and whilst it wouldn't suit me, why create a dilemma for yourself when they seem to be happy with what they've got. 
In terms of your final paragraph, and reaching for the proverbial glass ball, I can see a future of tablets gaining even more popularity, and with the likes of Siri, which is in part available now on the iPhone.  Surely this is the path of the future where one can talk to the device and gain an immediate response.  Even Steve Wozniak hinted at this in a television interview on BBC's Click television programme.  I'm sorry there's no definitive answer to your question, but hats off to Gene Roddenberry whose imagination has given inspiration to the makers of our devices that has created a communications world and is infinately getting closer to the audience you are trying to reach out to.