Hi,
I completely agree with Anne here about the value of using standard
Mac shortcuts. Just a few comments on suggesting shortcuts: there are
still a number of users on list who use earlier versions of VoiceOver
-- a few even still use Tiger. It can be important to tell people if
you know that a shortcut (like Erik's example of Command-Option-D)
only works under Snow Leopard when there are other shortcut versions
(e.g. VO-D or Control-F3) that work under every version of VoiceOver.
Again, it's a question of tradeoffs between what's easiest to learn
for a beginner (in terms of groups of commands that are easy to
memorize), and ease of typing. Like Anne, I'm used to typing all
these multi-key combinations, which have long since sunk into muscle
memory.
One of the great things about using a Mac is that you can go up to any
Mac and use VoiceOver. Another possible way to customize your
shortcuts: Daniel reported a few months ago on this list that the
Numpad Commander shortcuts work using the top row of number keys on
the Mac laptops when you hold down an arrow key and have Numpad
Commander turned on. Since a large number of users who are asking for
simpler VoiceOver keyboard shortcuts are using laptop keyboards,
customizing your Numpad Commander definitions in VoiceOver Utility,
and then holding down an arrow key and pressing one of the keys in the
top row of numbers to get the corresponding Numpad Commander
definition is another way to extend your shortcuts. This can be
especially useful if you move between desktop and laptop, or
eventually get a desktop keyboard, and want to use the same
definitions. This also seems to work on older model Intel laptops,
and at least in Leopard as well as Snow Leopard. I set up an external
numeric keypad with (unshifted) Numpad definitions like: "3" for
"Mouse to VoiceOver Cursor", "+" for "Interact with item", and "-" for
"Stop interacting", and I can press an arrow key with my right hand
and tap the "3" to move my mouse cursor to the VoiceOver cursor
(instead of the VO-Command-F5), or I can press the left arrow key with
my right thumb and then tap the "-" or "+" keys beside the delete key
with my right middle finger to start or stop interacting. (I actually
prefer to use VO-Shift-Down Arrow, etc., but this is just for an
example.)
Just some more suggestions.
Cheers,
Esther
On Jun 3, 2010, at 10:43, Anne Robertson wrote:
On Jun 3, 2010, at 10:29 PM, Sarah Alawami wrote:
and anothe rkeystroke you can use is control f2. thats the one I've
been using.
That is the key stroke to take you to the Apple menu. Control-F3
takes you to the Dock.
Control-F8 takes you to the Status menus.
Command-Shift-D takes you to the Desktop.
All these shortcuts are documented against their corresponding menu
items.
VoiceOver does not "Teach" us to do anything in particular. It
simply gives us options we can use. The specific VO commands are
useful when we work with the VO keys locked, which was a common
thing to do before Snow Leopard and Quick Nav.
The standard Mac shortcuts are second nature to me because I've been
using a Mac for 14 years, and many shortcuts go back a long way.
Others are very recent, such as Command-Shift-O to go to your
Documents folder.
I always teach people the standard Mac shortcuts because you never
know when you'll need them.
It's worth taking the time to look closely at menus to see just how
many useful shortcuts there are.
Cheers,
Anne
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"MacVisionaries" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
