Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
The coding of the keys wouldn’t work, as you say, because there are two keys in sequence, not just one. And no, Glenn, the double-tap technique does not work either in this situation. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 19:49, Christopher-Mark Gilland cgwaxhawlo...@clgproductions.com wrote: Right, but I'm not 100% sure that will work if you remap it to ctrl+option, as theoretically, if you did, you'd basically be double pressing those keys instead of double pressing the caps lock. does that kind a make sense? --- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net --- To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages postedto 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/mac-access@mac-access.net/. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/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/
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Hi Chris Thanks that’s helpful. Lynne and I are definitely planning to buy ProTools, it’s just a matter of determining why we cannot buy and download, rather than buy boxed. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 19:51, Christopher-Mark Gilland cgwaxhawlo...@clgproductions.com wrote: Oh, you mean the accent grave key? Just be careful, if you ever down the road get ProTools, Gordon, as though it isn't the most common command in the DAW, it does do something that you may want to do. I don't totally recall what it did off hand, but I do know I used it once or twice. --- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net --- To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages postedto 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/mac-access@mac-access.net/. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/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/
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
So, I have two questions. Firstly, how does one remap the vo keys to the caps lock in the first place? Secondly, what do you then do if down the road you do! need to use the caps lock for its normal function? Chris. - Original Message - From: Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2014 10:31 PM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either Techno-Chat, or our sister group, Windows-Access, I’d love to hear from you as to how you avoid the conflicts to which I seem to be prone. For reference once again, I shall post here the links that people may use to join these groups if they wish: Techno-Chat, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat/ Windows-Accesss, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/windows-access/ Back to the original topic, what I
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Hi Eric Point taken, yes. I see where you’re going. I just don’t use those commands all that often. But if you do, then yes, I certainly see that. However, if you’re planning on updating to 10.9.3, I don’t know yet whether it’s public, but you might be disappointed. Maybe your preference will hold, I don’t know. But I cannot get those utilities to work here at all. KeyBoard Remap is listed in the menu bar. But the other utility just isn’t there. I’ve tried installing twice, and restarted after each procedure. I was contemplating asking you if we could put your article on our blog, with a couple of small mods. But that’s on hold at the moment until I can ascertain whether or not the update breaks with the new OS X build. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 03:31, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
I am using KeyRemapforMacBook version 8.90.3 and PCKeyboardHack version 10.0 with OS X 10.9.3 perfectly well here. Admittedly, I have not updated either of these recently only because I have not felt the need to do so nor experienced any issue with not updating. Also, Eric, it is worth noting that it is not necessary to use the Option key on the left side of the space bar. You can use the Option key on the right side for those cases where it is difficult to press a key on the left side while trying to hold two keys with the left hand. Still, I prefer to just change the key mapping. Gordon, as for your question about how to address use of the Caps Lock, I admit that I have been rather lazy. When I need to capitalize multiple consecutive characters, I just hold the shift key. But I could remap the Caps Lock to something else if it was a real need. On May 26, 2014, at 9:14 AM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi Eric Point taken, yes. I see where you’re going. I just don’t use those commands all that often. But if you do, then yes, I certainly see that. However, if you’re planning on updating to 10.9.3, I don’t know yet whether it’s public, but you might be disappointed. Maybe your preference will hold, I don’t know. But I cannot get those utilities to work here at all. KeyBoard Remap is listed in the menu bar. But the other utility just isn’t there. I’ve tried installing twice, and restarted after each procedure. I was contemplating asking you if we could put your article on our blog, with a couple of small mods. But that’s on hold at the moment until I can ascertain whether or not the update breaks with the new OS X build. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 03:31, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Sarah, You were looking for the use of KeyboardHack to disable the Control and Option keys? This would be a difficult side effect and would mean that there would be no Control key and at least one of the Option keys would be disabled, depending on your particular keyboard. I am not entirely sure what you mean. Why would that have any impact on why you didn’t elect to continue to use the Caps Lock key as the VO key? On May 25, 2014, at 10:41 PM, Sarah k Alawami marri...@gmail.com wrote: I notice though it does not disable the control and option keys as beeing the vo function. or at least it didn't when I did the little hack thing. Otherwise I would have kept the hack thing up and running. Tc all and be blessed. On May 25, 2014, at 7:31 PM, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Eric spent a lot more time and effort constructing a well composed message. I agree with his assessment completely. On May 25, 2014, at 10:31 PM, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either Techno-Chat, or our sister group, Windows-Access, I’d love to hear from you as to how you avoid the conflicts to which I seem to be prone. For reference once again, I shall post here the links that people may use to join these groups if they wish: Techno-Chat, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat/ Windows-Accesss, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/windows-access/ Back to the original topic, what I was going to say was that I believe that it is essential if you want to cut the learning curve down a bit, to throw away what seems sensible on Windows or other platforms, and take VoiceOver for the beast that it is. Learning
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Gordon, 10.9.3 has been released to non devs, so I see no reason why it would be nonpublic. Chris. - Original Message - From: Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 9:14 AM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? Hi Eric Point taken, yes. I see where you’re going. I just don’t use those commands all that often. But if you do, then yes, I certainly see that. However, if you’re planning on updating to 10.9.3, I don’t know yet whether it’s public, but you might be disappointed. Maybe your preference will hold, I don’t know. But I cannot get those utilities to work here at all. KeyBoard Remap is listed in the menu bar. But the other utility just isn’t there. I’ve tried installing twice, and restarted after each procedure. I was contemplating asking you if we could put your article on our blog, with a couple of small mods. But that’s on hold at the moment until I can ascertain whether or not the update breaks with the new OS X build. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 03:31, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Christopher, If it is like in windows and Linux, you double-tap the caps lock key quickly, and it will toggle between locked and unlocked. Glenn - Original Message - From: Christopher-Mark Gilland cgwaxhawlo...@clgproductions.com To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 7:35 AM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? So, I have two questions. Firstly, how does one remap the vo keys to the caps lock in the first place? Secondly, what do you then do if down the road you do! need to use the caps lock for its normal function? Chris. - Original Message - From: Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2014 10:31 PM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either Techno-Chat, or our sister group, Windows-Access, I’d love to hear from you
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Hi I have this working now, but I had to totally revise the steps. Version 9.3 of KeyRemap for MacBook, it no longer lives in system prefs it seems. I had to launch the two apps manually. Once done, the procedure became obvious. Note also that I didn’t have to go through the steps of interacting and pressing enter. Tab worked just as well. But Eric’s principle steps were of value, I wouldn’t deny that for a second. As for the multiple caps issue which Chris raised, I think that is a ver valid point. If you’re going to remap the caps lock key to something else, why change it in the first instance? :) Seriously, though, I can see Eric’s original point. All the same, I think I’d be tempted, once I find the scan code, to remap a different key. The caps lock key is one I have always used quite a bit, so I’d probably map something like the key above the tab key instead. That key, I never use. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 14:34, Geoff Stephens geoffsli...@gmail.com wrote: I am using KeyRemapforMacBook version 8.90.3 and PCKeyboardHack version 10.0 with OS X 10.9.3 perfectly well here. Admittedly, I have not updated either of these recently only because I have not felt the need to do so nor experienced any issue with not updating. Also, Eric, it is worth noting that it is not necessary to use the Option key on the left side of the space bar. You can use the Option key on the right side for those cases where it is difficult to press a key on the left side while trying to hold two keys with the left hand. Still, I prefer to just change the key mapping. Gordon, as for your question about how to address use of the Caps Lock, I admit that I have been rather lazy. When I need to capitalize multiple consecutive characters, I just hold the shift key. But I could remap the Caps Lock to something else if it was a real need. On May 26, 2014, at 9:14 AM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi Eric Point taken, yes. I see where you’re going. I just don’t use those commands all that often. But if you do, then yes, I certainly see that. However, if you’re planning on updating to 10.9.3, I don’t know yet whether it’s public, but you might be disappointed. Maybe your preference will hold, I don’t know. But I cannot get those utilities to work here at all. KeyBoard Remap is listed in the menu bar. But the other utility just isn’t there. I’ve tried installing twice, and restarted after each procedure. I was contemplating asking you if we could put your article on our blog, with a couple of small mods. But that’s on hold at the moment until I can ascertain whether or not the update breaks with the new OS X build. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 03:31, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Hi Yes, to be absolutely fair, Eric did make me stop and think. I’m not disputing what he said – in fact, the more I think about it, the more logical it seems. I hope and trust that nobody is going to try to turn this into an argument, because that is definitely not what it is about. I aI for one have decided to give the suggestions a go, and maybe I’ll be a convert. I’m certainly not dismissing them out of hand, which would be totally wrong. However, in my case, Eric’s steps were some way off the mark. The principles were right, no doubt about that. But using version 9.3 of the KeyRemap utility, it didn’t show up in System Preferences at all. In fact, all that did show up is the context menu helper. As for the PC Keyboard Hack, that never showed up anywhere and I had to go into my Applications directory to launch it. Also, interacting with and pressing enter on the scan code to be changed didn’t work here. But simply tabbing around the window worked fine. Once I selected the appropriate values in the tables, everything was tickadyboo. :) I’m going to leave it set this way for a while. Let’s see how I get on. I just wish I could find a way to stop Fusion from grabbing control when I hit the Command+M key to go to the desktop. I’ll have to see if Command (Alias Windows)+D works any better. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 14:40, Geoff Stephens geoffsli...@gmail.com wrote: Eric spent a lot more time and effort constructing a well composed message. I agree with his assessment completely. On May 25, 2014, at 10:31 PM, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover,
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Right, but I'm not 100% sure that will work if you remap it to ctrl+option, as theoretically, if you did, you'd basically be double pressing those keys instead of double pressing the caps lock. does that kind a make sense? Chris. - Original Message - From: Glenn glenner...@cableone.net To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 10:37 AM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? Christopher, If it is like in windows and Linux, you double-tap the caps lock key quickly, and it will toggle between locked and unlocked. Glenn - Original Message - From: Christopher-Mark Gilland cgwaxhawlo...@clgproductions.com To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 7:35 AM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? So, I have two questions. Firstly, how does one remap the vo keys to the caps lock in the first place? Secondly, what do you then do if down the road you do! need to use the caps lock for its normal function? Chris. - Original Message - From: Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2014 10:31 PM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Oh, you mean the accent grave key? Just be careful, if you ever down the road get ProTools, Gordon, as though it isn't the most common command in the DAW, it does do something that you may want to do. I don't totally recall what it did off hand, but I do know I used it once or twice. Chris. - Original Message - From: Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net To: OS X iOS Accessibility mac-access@mac-access.net Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 10:47 AM Subject: Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage? Hi I have this working now, but I had to totally revise the steps. Version 9.3 of KeyRemap for MacBook, it no longer lives in system prefs it seems. I had to launch the two apps manually. Once done, the procedure became obvious. Note also that I didn’t have to go through the steps of interacting and pressing enter. Tab worked just as well. But Eric’s principle steps were of value, I wouldn’t deny that for a second. As for the multiple caps issue which Chris raised, I think that is a ver valid point. If you’re going to remap the caps lock key to something else, why change it in the first instance? :) Seriously, though, I can see Eric’s original point. All the same, I think I’d be tempted, once I find the scan code, to remap a different key. The caps lock key is one I have always used quite a bit, so I’d probably map something like the key above the tab key instead. That key, I never use. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 14:34, Geoff Stephens geoffsli...@gmail.com wrote: I am using KeyRemapforMacBook version 8.90.3 and PCKeyboardHack version 10.0 with OS X 10.9.3 perfectly well here. Admittedly, I have not updated either of these recently only because I have not felt the need to do so nor experienced any issue with not updating. Also, Eric, it is worth noting that it is not necessary to use the Option key on the left side of the space bar. You can use the Option key on the right side for those cases where it is difficult to press a key on the left side while trying to hold two keys with the left hand. Still, I prefer to just change the key mapping. Gordon, as for your question about how to address use of the Caps Lock, I admit that I have been rather lazy. When I need to capitalize multiple consecutive characters, I just hold the shift key. But I could remap the Caps Lock to something else if it was a real need. On May 26, 2014, at 9:14 AM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi Eric Point taken, yes. I see where you’re going. I just don’t use those commands all that often. But if you do, then yes, I certainly see that. However, if you’re planning on updating to 10.9.3, I don’t know yet whether it’s public, but you might be disappointed. Maybe your preference will hold, I don’t know. But I cannot get those utilities to work here at all. KeyBoard Remap is listed in the menu bar. But the other utility just isn’t there. I’ve tried installing twice, and restarted after each procedure. I was contemplating asking you if we could put your article on our blog, with a couple of small mods. But that’s on hold at the moment until I can ascertain whether or not the update breaks with the new OS X build. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 26 May 2014, at 03:31, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm
Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
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 --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages postedto 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/mac-access@mac-access.net/. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/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/
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
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 gor...@mac-access.net 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 --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages postedto 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/mac-access@mac-access.net/. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/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 mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages postedto 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/mac-access@mac-access.net/. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml As the Mac Access Dot Net
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either Techno-Chat, or our sister group, Windows-Access, I’d love to hear from you as to how you avoid the conflicts to which I seem to be prone. For reference once again, I shall post here the links that people may use to join these groups if they wish: Techno-Chat, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat/ Windows-Accesss, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/windows-access/ Back to the original topic, what I was going to say was that I believe that it is essential if you want to cut the learning curve down a bit, to throw away what seems sensible on Windows or other platforms, and take VoiceOver for the beast that it is. Learning native functionality before venturing out to changing things seems, to me at least, to be a more preferable way to work. I’ve found when coaching new users that, if I can get the user to totally forget about Jaws, NVDA, Window-Eyes, Access2Go, Window-Bridge or any other such solution, the user seems to learn more quickly. VoiceOver is, as most would agree, a very different concept to the majority or maybe even all of those screen-readers with the possible exception of NVDA whose basic principles are the same. Anyway, I’ll end with another question. If you make this change, and the caps lock key is used as a VoiceOver key, what happens with your other solutions which also require the caps lock key? I too am using a MacBook, a 2012 MacBook Air in my case. OK, so that I can comment from the perspective of one who has at least tried the change, I shall go and make a total system backup, and then I shall make the change; see if I prefer it. If so, I shall then bow to the inevitable. Finally, to be very clear, I don’t want you to think I’m in any way ridiculing, patronising, disputing or in any way trying to be obnoxious. I’m just interested in the concept of why people find these changes advantageous. Perhaps, after trying it, I may come out on totally the other side of the fence. But I shall, rest assured, try it. I wouldn’t like to in any way be presumptuous. Kindest regards --- Gordon Smith --- gor...@mac-access.net 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 -- On 25 May 2014, at 18:50, Geoff Stephens geoffsli...@gmail.com wrote: 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
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either Techno-Chat, or our sister group, Windows-Access, I’d love to hear from you as to how you avoid the conflicts to which I seem to be prone. For reference once again, I shall post here the links that people may use to join these groups if they wish: Techno-Chat, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat/ Windows-Accesss, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/windows-access/ Back to the original topic, what I was going to say was that I believe that it is essential if you want to cut the learning curve down a bit, to throw away what seems sensible on Windows or other platforms, and take VoiceOver for the beast that it is. Learning native functionality before venturing out to changing things seems, to me at least, to be a more preferable way to work. I’ve found when coaching new users that, if I can get the user to
Re: Caps Lock Key As A VoiceOver Key; What's The Advantage?
I notice though it does not disable the control and option keys as beeing the vo function. or at least it didn't when I did the little hack thing. Otherwise I would have kept the hack thing up and running. Tc all and be blessed. On May 25, 2014, at 7:31 PM, Eric Caron eric_ca...@mac-access.net wrote: Hi gordon and others, Here are some of the reasons I find having the caps lock key act as the VO keys a advantage. I'm a touch typist using the Home row of keys. The caps lock key location lets me use VO and often keep my fingers ready to go on the Home row. Much faster work flow for me. Many commands using VO and letters on the left side of the key board are especially easy to use with the caps lock as VO. example VO A, reading the contents of the voice over curser. I use two fingers on my left hand without leaving the home row. The small finger on caps lock and the ring finger to tap the A key. Without caps lock I must drop my left hand to the VO keys then cross my right hand over to find the A key. Or, I can cross my right hand down and under my left. There is just no easy way to keep typing and press VO A, or VO S, or VO D for that matter. The caps lock key as VO is also a big help to me when I need to do command that has multiple keys. for example VO shift home. with the caps lock as vo I can still essentially keep my left hand on the home row. and pressing caps lock key is easy. pressing VO shift means my left hand is off the Home row and busy using three fingers to hold down the keys. I can give many more examples. One more good one is using the command VO W. this is a very handy command to hear the word you are on, Press it a second time for the spelling, and the third time for the phonetic spelling. With VO as caps lock I hold down the caps lock key with my small finger on my left hand and use my left hand ring finger two then press the W as many times as I need. both hands remain on the home row. Now go ahead and try this with the usual VO keys on the left of the space bar. that simple command VO W is a hand twister for me and a slow down in my work flow. Before using the caps lock as a VO key I modified my laptop keyboard to have a set of VO keys on the right. Now that I have the caps lock key working as VO I returned my other keys back to the default. I don't need the VO keys on the right to work quickly. This modification has nothing to do with my past and current work on the windows side of the world. It is just a much more efficient way of navigating the keyboard on the Mac. I continue to be grateful it is a option thanks to keyremap4macbook. Best. Eric Caron On May 25, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Gordon Smith gor...@mac-access.net wrote: Hello Regarding your first point, I too came to the Mac after a very long time using Windows. Now, however, I need to use both and, moreover, on the same machine preferably at the same time. I believe that I was the first in the visually impaired community to introduce the concept of VMWAre Fusion, way back in April 2007 whilst beta testing for VMWAre with Fusion 1.0. I produced a demo for ACB Radio main stream, which was well received in many quarters, I’m flattered to say. I worked closely in those days with the VMWAre engineering staff to ensure accessibility. This was because at that time the only other solution was Parallels Desktop 1.0 which was, and remains to this day, totally inaccessible. When I contacted VMWAre in the very early part of 2007, they were extremely receptive to my comment and, as I said, invited me to participate in what was then private beta testing. It went public not too long after my original demo which was compiled with their knowledge and permission. In recent times, however, I haven’t really given much thought to using it since about Fusion 4, which was very different. I find that the host system keeps grabbing control of the keyboard when, for instance, I hit Command+M which should produce the equivalent to Windows+M in the guest. I don’t want to go down the road of configuration of the guest on this forum because it would put me off topic, and my fellow moderator would probably banish me from the list, despite the fact that I own it! ;-) Seriously, however, if there is anybody who wants to take up this discussion and if they are a member of either Techno-Chat, or our sister group, Windows-Access, I’d love to hear from you as to how you avoid the conflicts to which I seem to be prone. For reference once again, I shall post here the links that people may use to join these groups if they wish: Techno-Chat, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat/ Windows-Accesss, http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/windows-access/ Back to the original topic, what I was going to say was that I believe that it is essential if
