Re: [g-a-devel]Proposed implementation agnostic GNOME Speech API.

[Peter Korn <Peter Korn Sun COM>]

Hi Mario, Bill, gang,


Mario wrote (in the single quote):
>>>
> > > I also have a question here.  Why is it that Gnopernicus uses such a
> > > complicated layer of keys.  Being new to the program it makes it quite
> > > difficult to use.  I wonder if this could be changed?
>>
>> ...
> > The alternatives are:
> >
> >  1. have far fewer commands available by default
> >  2. use Ctrl/Shift/Alt-keypad combinations instead of layers
> >  3. use Function keys or them main keyboard with Ctrl/Shift/Alt combinations
> >
> > Of these, I think really only option #2 is worth considering.
>  
> From past experiences with other screen reading products,
> option #2 is doomed to fail in the long run IMO.
> I see two immediate disadvantages:
> 1. Computer newbie users generally have a hard time coping
>    with complicated key-combinations.  They are hard
>    to remember, and cumbersome to press.
>    Also, reember that a screen reader user will have to use
>    the screen reading commands quite often, so having to press
>    some more or less complicated key-combo will slow him down.
> 2. If you use Ctrl/Alt/Shift modifiers on normal keyboard
>    keys to create screen reader bindings, your bindings will
>    at some point collide with shortcuts defined in some
>    application the user is running.
>
> It is of course acceptable to bind certain commands to
> Ctrl/Alt/Shift+something combinations, but those should
> be very carefully chosen, and perhaps only by the user himself.

And then Bill:
> #2 however has the distinct disadvantage of clashing with commonly-used GNOME keybindings.
>
> It might be worth investigating whether we can use less-common modifier keys, such as the
> 'Windows' key, etc. in conjunction with numpad or arrow keys, for some functions.
>
> It also might make sense to use the Function keys (with a modifier, say Ctrl-F1, etc.) to
> switch gnopernicus 'modes' or 'layers', and the use numpad/arrow keys (possibly
> with shift/alt/etc.) for gnopernicus-specific navigation within that 'layer'.  This might have the potential
> for less conflict with GNOME keybindings, while retaining the convenience of the number pad
> for the most frequent gnopernicus command keys.

I think you guys may have misunderstood me.

Mario - your comment about newbies potentially having problems with modifier 
key combinations is well taken.  However, it seems both of you may have 
missed the fact that I'm suggesting modifier key combinations *only* with 
the numeric keypad.  I'm not aware of any application that would collide 
with Ctrl-NumPad-1 (any more so than colliding with NumPad-1 for example).

I think the only real concern is the newbie concern.  Perhaps the caliber of 
users coming from Windows/JAWS is different than what I remember from the 
outSPOKEN days (Macintosh and Windows).  In both of those products we used 
the numeric keypad with modifiers.  I'm not aware of any significant level 
of tech support calls about those combinations.  In fact, my recollection is 
that outSPOKEN was prasied for how intuitive its user interface was 
(Macintosh and Windows), and how users coming back to it after using other 
products found themselves working productively inside of 10 minutes, where 
it took them far longer to remember the key commands of other screen readers 
when the moved (back and forth) to those.

The key, of course, is in designing a set of key commands that make a high 
degree of logical sense.  I think that was one of the accomplishments of 
Marc Sutton and Josh Miele in the design of the outSPOKEN for Windows key 
command scheme.

Also, it seems to me to make more logical sense to say that Braille is the 
ALT key (for example), and magnification is Ctrl and Shift-Ctrl than it is 
to say that these are layers 9, 6, and 7 respectively.


Regards,

Peter Korn
Sun Accessibility team