Re: [orca-list] [Fwd: Default button of Orca]



I was at first opposed to the change, but you've made a good case for it. If it's done right, including the several things you suggest, then the improvement for new users like I once was should more than offset any annoyance to users like I am now.

Al

On 4/21/2011 4:03 AM, Alan Bell wrote:
On 20/04/11 23:13, Luke Yelavich wrote:

I support Alan's request to set the help button as the default button.
We can give new users instructions on how to access preferences when
orca starts, and all being well, the user should be able to navigate
help with arrow keys, assuming the distro has set up caret navigation
in yelp, and if not, then perhaps Orca should check this prior to
launching yelp, and enable it.

Luke
Hi all,

I really appreciate the discussion around this little suggestion!
Firstly, I totally agree with Joanmarie and others that making a
downstream change of the default button in one distro would be a bad
thing. This is just one really minor point in my overall objective of
making Orca so easy that even a sighted person could use it. Right now
on startup you are greeted with "Orca Screen Reader slash Magnifier
frame, preferences button" if the user presses space or return they get
to "Orca Preferences, General Page", which is a bad place to be if you
have no idea how to use Orca or how to navigate the user interface.
Pressing left and right moves between pages, pressing down ends up in
the desktop/laptop radio button, then up/down/left/right just flip
between desktop/laptop. The cancel button is 15 tab presses away.

Making the help button the default (and changing / to & which is a
separate issue) would mean the user is greeted with:
"Orca Screen Reader & Magnifier frame, help button"
from which point experienced users can press tab-space to get to the
preferences window, but the new user can press space, return or still F1
to get to the help, which makes it more discoverable.

The next issue is making the help start with something helpful. The
"Quick reference" section is at the right at the end, 22 tab presses
away, and not particularly helpful. All the information is in there, but
there are no up front instructions about useful keys to press to get
started. All it needs is a paragraph at the top of the first page of
help with something like:

"The Orca screen reader provides an audio commentary of the desktop as
you use it. There are a number of commands you can use to control Orca,
many of these are accessed through the Orca modifier key which is Keypad
0 on a desktop keyboard or capslock if you have a laptop keyboard
without a separate number pad. You can navigate through this help by
pressing tab to move between links and return to follow a link."

And then at the top of the list of links I would put stuff like:
The "Learn" Modes - link
WhereAmI - link
Navigating the desktop with the keyboard - link

I am not entirely joking when I talk about "making Orca so easy that
even a sighted person could use it", I actually really want to enable
use-cases such as a sighted person working on a computer without a
monitor, perhaps a installing a headless server using nothing but a USB
keyboard and headphones. Having people use Orca out of choice, or
because they can't be bothered to plug in a monitor, might mean that
more applications get tested by more people for readability and more
developers spend more time thinking about arranging their applications
user interface in a reader friendly sequence.

Alan.
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