Re: [orca-list] Experimental focus versus browse mode committed to master

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

I suspect we're about to see a re-run of the Vi vs. Emacs debate with respect
to keyboard usage.

Vi makes wonderful use of the keyboard at the expense of having two modes:
command mode and insert mode.

Emacs avoids the modes, but takes your fingers to awkward key combinations.

Likewise, OS X avoids having distinct modes, at the expense of requiring you
to hold down modifier keys while moving the focus (except where the
application's handling of tab and arrow keys does what is needed).

The problem with Orca and Gecko here, as I understand it, is that Orca takes
over caret navigation, but uses the same keys (i.e., cursor movement keys)
that are also used to interact with widgets. It's a key conflict problem that
could be solved if Orca mapped its caret navigation commands to something
other than arrow keys and tab.

At this point we would have arguments on both sides about which design is
better and whether we should avoid having browse and focus modes or not.

I think it would be best to make some design decisions about the future and
then change the implementation accordingly. I don't have strong views on the
issues at stake, although, having used OS X recently, I quite like the fact
that none of the screen reader commands conflicts with keys commonly used in
applications. At the same time, this does lead to some awkward key
combinations.