Hello David, First of all, I'm not sure from your description what is going on, but one way to force the download of linked content such as mp3 files or PDF files when you are focused on the link is to press Option+Enter. (A Mac purist would call this key combination Option+"Return", which is how VoiceOver identifies the key that most Windows users call the "Enter" key when you press it while you are in Keyboard Help mode (turned on with VO+K and terminated by pressing the Escape key; VoiceOver announces the pressed key combinations and their actions but doesn't act on the keys in this mode); on the older Mac keyboards there was both an "Enter" key which could be assigned different functions and a "Return" key). For a few oddly coded sites like the main Blind Cool Tech web site you have to first interact with the link for a podcast before you can use either VO-Shift-M to bring up the contextual menu to select your option (copy link, download linked file, etc.) or press Option+Enter to force a download of the linked file.
If your linked MP3 file has started playing in the browser after you activated the link (e.g. by pressing VO-Space or pressing the up and down arrow keys together with QuickNav turned on), then you can get the file to download by pressing Command+L to highlight the URL in the address bar followed by Option+Enter to force the download of your selection. These keyboard shortcuts work generally under Mac OS X and do not depend on VoiceOver. Also, it does not matter if you keep the toolbar of your web browser hidden. Command+L will momentarily open the toolbar and highlight your current address. Then, after you press your Option+Enter, it will close the toolbar. This also works if you want to copy your current URL or go directly to the Google search field with Command+Option+F to type in search terms and press "Return" to execute the search, but still generally keep your toolbar hidden. The toolbar will open for your Command+L, Command+C or your Command+Option+F and entry of typed search terms, and then close again after you press Return or perform your next action. The switch between Safari busy and Safari ready happens when you're running low on system resources. In some cases this can be due to insufficient memory, but if you see this behavior associated with certain web pages it's more likely that the coding for that page is putting extra stress on your Safari browser -- either by the use of dynamically updating javascript or Flash content. Since VoiceOver uses the system memory resources, too, it's sensitive to high usage and inefficiencies. The bigger consumers are Safari and iTunes, which is why you're more likely to hear the "busy" message associated with Safari. This is not specific to Voiceover -- sighted users will refer to a visual cue for "busy" as the "spinning pinwheel of death (or SPOD)" associated with system lockups in the same circumstances. In general, good system maintenance helps minimize these busy messages. You can try clearing out your Safari caches periodically to free up more memory. The "Reset Safari" menu option accessed from the menu bar (VO-M or Control-F2 to the menu bar; navigate to the "Safari" menu with VO-Right arrow or the Right Arrow key of QuickNav, or by pressing "S"; then arrow down to "Reset Safari" or press "r e s" to get there and press return). You can also get there with TrackPad Commander (two finger double tap at the top of the TrackPad to go to the Apple menu; flick right to "Safari" and double tap to select; flick down to "Reset Safari" and double tap.) On the "Reset Safari" menu pane there are various boxes you can check, including "Remove all webpage preview images", "Empty the cache", and "Remove all webpage icons". I always get ride of preview images, since they take up memory and I don't use them. For general system maintenance tools, a good freeware product is OnyX, which is accessible, and which has versions for all Mac OS systems: Lion, Snow Leopard, Leopard, and Tiger. (Make sure to download the one for your operating system). I usually look for programs that are not at the App Store by Googling for them at the MacUpdate site, which uses a standard format for brief description, download link, and information about the date and version of the latest release, along with links to the developer's web site. It also lets me read user comments and ratings about the current version. Googling "OnyX Macupdate" gives: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx and the description: <begin quote> OnyX is a multifunction utility for Mac OS X. It allows you to verify the Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, to run miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance, to configure the hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock and of some of Apple's own applications, to delete caches, to remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome and more. <end quote> You can also check which processes are using most of your system resources by using the Activity Monitor application in your Utilities folder (Command-Shift-U to navigate there in FInder; press "a" or "a c" to go to "Activity Monitor" and press Command-Down arrow to launch). You may not want to get into this unless you have unusual problems, but you can monitor memory, disk, and CPU usage, as well as quit processes. This all works with VoiceOver. Since you mention visiting the BBC web site, you might want to join the mac-access list. That mailing list is hosted out of the UK, and the list owners run their mail servers on Macs. Gordon Smith did the first extensive podcast on setting up VMWare Fusion for ACB's Main Menu several years back. While it's an international list, with several of this list's members on it, there are a number of list members who discuss using the BBC iPlayer app, and there were recent discussion of the free app "Get iPlayer Automator" working under Lion on that list. Since some of the content to BBC web pages is not available to users outside of the UK, you may find a better audience for your questions about the BBC web pages on that list. I think the information about subscribing to the mac-access list may be found at: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access The posts are now archived at the Mail Archive web site, and can be searched there: http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access%40mac-access.net/ HTH. Cheers, Esther On Oct 2, 2011, at 12:21, David Eagle wrote: > It seems as if my relationship with the Mac is one really good > experience followed by one really annoying one. Ive just had a really > successful time subscribing to podcasts in iTunes. I ten went to > download a file from the BBC website. I press VO key shift M like I > would usually do to get to the list of options where I can download > the file. But I don't get that. I get "forward, back, reload page" > etc. If I press the link then it opens and starts plain so it's > definitely a download. Where did my ability to get into the menu that > says "copy link, download linked file" etc go to? I know this will be > sacrilege to a lot of you but I find myself having to go back to my > sluggish windows machine just to get something done because the Mac > breaks things randomly like this. O and now just to top it all off, > real speak Daniel is sounding like he's on steroids. What the hell are > you doing to me Apple? O my god and now Safari keeps saying Busy then > ready then busy then ready. Why can't you make your mind up? are you > busy or ready? Sorry for the rant, but I get very frustrated by the > Mac sometimes, especially since it costs a lot more and seems to just > do the most quirky things. And now it's making silly plopping noises > at me as if I've misspelt a word; but I haven't. I might start writing > some words that will cause you to make plopping noises at me > Macintosh, but they won't be misspelt words; it's just your database > will not have the kind of words I'll be using. I suppose on the plus > side the Mac does run incredibly fast, although that generally means > it has more time to fit more annoying things in to a shorter space of > time. OK, I'm off to check my date and time settings in case the Mac > thinks it's April the first. > > > > -- > http://www.davideagle.co.uk > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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