Hi, On Thu, 2005-10-20 at 08:49 -0200, Matthew Thomas wrote: > On 19 Oct, 2005, at 2:49 PM, Bill Haneman wrote: > > > > Matthew said: > >> > >> In Windows 2000 and (I think) Windows XP, all access key underlines > >> are hidden by default. > >> <http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/ > >> hideunderlines.aspx> This makes the interface less ugly, and possibly > >> also somewhat faster for people who aren't disabled (as it > >> discourages them from thinking that finding and typing the access key > >> is faster than using Tab or the mouse). > > > > I am hoping there are missing <sarcasm> tags around that last comment > > :-) > > ... > > No, there aren't. <http://asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html> > > I see there is some research showing that the keyboard is faster for > common commands > <http://ad-astra.ro/research/view_publication.php? > publication_id=1508&lang=en>, but that wouldn't include access keys > unless you were encountering particular dialogs or alerts very often.
I think this screams for a little personal user testing! I use emacs and I feel as though never having to switch to the mouse is very helpful. Yet, I have wondered if I do lose productivity by having to remember so many commands and not having as many facilities for refactoring. So in the interest of usability (and a little fun), I propose trying a short hiatus on using short cut keys and see what happens. I will report my findings on my blog (http://ionrock.org). One thing to consider is that Tog reported this in 1989! I think it is safe to say that users would not anywhere nearly as accustomed to typing as we are today. Yet, with this in mind I will still see how this goes. Wish me luck and if anyone else wants to do the same please let me know your experiences ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Maybe we can add an article on the subject to BetterDesktop.org Eric _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
