Re: [orca-list] Input requested: What is *needed* with respect to choosing an Orca modifier

[Trevor Saunders <trev saunders gmail com>]

HI,

> My thoughts:
>
> * A combo box makes a lot of sense to me: I need an Orca modifier; not a
>   bunch of them simultaneously working as the modifier.
>
> * A list of checkable items or a group of checkboxes seems unnecessarily
>   complex.
>
> * A list of checkable items or a group of checkboxes has the potential
>   for user confusion: If I choose both Insert and Super, what's my Orca
>   modifier? Insert + Super together, or Insert or Super -- whichever one
>   I felt like pressing that time?

agreed.

> * A list of checkable items or a group of checkboxes requires additional
>   validation/handling to ensure that at least one item is checked (else
>   the user might find him/herself with no modifiers selected and no Orca
>   Main Window showing)

why?  We could just have a warning saying fiddling with the orca modifier can cause "interesting" problems, 
are you sure? ("interesting" in the same sort of sense as rm -rf /lib, but somewhat less tricky).

> My (additional) concerns:
>
> * Not all systems have a Super Key. As I recall, the old thinkpads 
>   lacked one. I also have an alternative keyboard suitable for one-
>   handed use. It has pretty much all of the keys BUT a Super Key.
>   What happens if a user selects the Super key as his/her Orca modifier
>   and doesn't have a Super Key?

The thing is a *lot* of keyboards have super, and it seems like a good
option to me.  If you should have a problem you can apply the fix I
sugguest above, or better yet be careful and check that you have one.
After all, we said this can cause problems, it was your choice.

> * Unless Xev is lying to me, the same modifier can claim to be different
>   things depending on the system being used. We need to be sure that
>   whatever a key is claiming to be, that we can reliably recognize it
>   correctly. What if a user with a Super key chooses the Super key, but
>   we cannot recognize it as such? Ditto for Alt Gr.

becareful and check before you change it is the best option imho.  I'm
not supprised this is the case.

> * Users are familiar with both Insert keys working as the modifier for
>   the desktop layout. I'm not so sure we should change the default.

No opinion, I basically never use the desktop layout.

> * If a user can pick any ol' modifier as the Orca key, are we in danger
>   of potential conflicts down the road because we've run out of 
>   combinations and now we need, say, the Super key?

interesting point, I think the simplest answer is if you change the
modifier be aware of the issue, you already can change the modifier it
just doesn't have a gui.  Other more complicated ideas come to mind
like working around the current modifier, but this seems like more
work than it's worth.

> Based on all of this, I've got two proposals for your consideration:
>
> Proposal 1: We have a combo box. In it there would be only the following
> choices:
>
>    a. Caps Lock (Default choice for the laptop layout)
>    b. KP_Insert
>    c. Insert
>    d. KP_Insert and Insert (Default choice for desktop layout)

I'd add super since it seems like a useful option to me.  but this
seems like a decent short term answer.

> Proposal 2: Instead of the combo box, we have a control which can
> "capture" a modifier in a fashion similar to how we rebind other keys.
>
> Pro: You'd have more modifiers to choose from without the risk of
> selecting something that doesn't exist on your keyboard.
>
> Con: Harder to implement and thus may or may not be done prior to the
> GNOME UI and string freezes; have not eliminated potential conflicts
> down the road.

maybe look at this in the future it seems harder but possibly better?

Trev