Re: [g-a-devel]gnopernicus command keys

[Mario Lang <mlang delysid org>]

Peter Korn <Peter Korn Sun COM> writes:

> I think there are two issues here, and I think it would be helpful if
> we discussed each separately, rather than potentially confusing them.
>
>   1. From the user's point of view, what is the best interface?  Do users
>      generally prefer the existing "layering" keypad approach, do they prefer
>      to use modifier keys with the keypad, do they prefer to use the main
>      keyboard (presumably with modifier keys or a similar layering), or
>      is there no clear "center" of preference?

This is not easy to answer.  I think most users prefer
if they have screen reader bindings as simple as possible,
which will probably mean a single key (no modifiers) whenever possible.
However, there are situations where this concept doesn't work at all,
e.g., on laptop keyboards, which generally do not have
a numpad (well, they have one, but it is practically
unusable).

Products like JAWS solve this by offering two destinct
keyboard layouts, the "Desktop" and the "Laptop" layout.
One utilized the numpad, the other uses CapsLock as Screen-reader Modifier key,
and puts all screen reader functionality on CapsLock+somekey.

The big advantage of CapsLock+somekey is that it doesn't
clash with anything, since no standard keybinding utilizes
CapsLock as modifier...

-- 
CYa,
  Mario | Debian Developer <URL:http://debian.org/>
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