For me at least, recently coming to the Mac after many years of Windows use, the idea that two keys are necessary to control VO seems nonsensical. Therefore, I immediately made the change. It also seems rather intuitive that the caps lock key would be the most logical choice since it allows one to leave the left hand on the home row. I do not have any problem with dexterity. More than a few of the keystrokes required to use VO if one leaves it at the default Control Option setting are needlessly difficult to accomplish. I only use VO on a laptop keyboard. Another reason the Caps Lock key is such a logical choice is that it is commonly used in Windows screen readers as the dedicated key for issuing screen reader commands in a laptop layout.
On May 25, 2014, at 1:29 PM, Gordon Smith <[email protected]> wrote: Hi all This really relates to a discussion that started life on our sister group Techno-Chat. But, since it’s OS X specific now, I’m moving it to this group. Anybody using a MacBook or, as in my case, a MacBook Air, do you use the caps lock key as a VoiceOver key and, if so, why? I’m just curious as to why it’s such an advantage. What does it let you do more easily than the default VoicerOver keys would allow? I can certainly see why somebody with dexterity issues would find it a big help. There would only be one key to hold rather than 2, which would help at least one person I know well to use her Mac more efficiently and, thanks to Colin and to the original poster Eric Caron, I shall pass this on to her. But for those with unimpeded dexterity, how does it help? I acknowledge that there are some keystrokes which can be difficult to initiate sometimes on a laptop keyboard. But these, for me at least, seem to be far too few to warrant a change in the default behaviour. Actually I think that on the whole, the VoiceOver key combinations have been very logically thought through. The only real inconsistencies I’ve noticed in this regard seem to be more related to Braille input via a Braille display’s keyboard. I haven’t really gone into that either until today, when I decided to have a shot at typing in grade 2 Braille on my HumanWAre BrailleNote Apex, my Freedom Scientific Focus40-Blue and my Seika Mini Seika display. In these cases, I noted that there didn’t seem to be a way of pressing backspace. Or did I just miss something obvious? Reading using the VoiceOver cursor seems to be a little more fiddly using a display than it does using the regular MacBook keyboard. But again this may simply be due to my inexperience of working this way. It’s something I hope to become more familiar with if it’s doable. Kindest regards <--- Gordon Smith ---> <[email protected]> Information Technology Accessibility Consultant; Proudly Providing Braille And Alternative Format Transcription Services, Plus I.T Help & Support To The Staff And Students Of the Visually Impaired Department at: Sunnyside Academy Manorfarm Way Colby Newham Middlesbrough Cleveland Telephone: United Kingdom: Free Phone: 0800 8620538 United Kingdom Geographic: 01133 280547 Mobile: +44 7907 823971 Europe and other non-specified: +44 1642 688095 United States Of America And Canada: +1 646 9151493 Or: +1 209 436 9443 Australasia: +61 38 8205930 Or: +61 39 0284505 Fax: +44 1642 365123 Follow Us On Twitter: <http://twitter.com/maciosaccess> Skype: <skype:mac-access-dot-net?call> ------------------------------ <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something unpredictable happen. Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something unpredictable happen. Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
