On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 10:34 AM, meg
ford <meg387 gmail com>
wrote:
Here is the documentation
for the keyboard shortcuts for navigating the
applications icons [1], although I I think that
asking a person with a physical disability to hold
down ctrl and alt while tabbing is not feasible.
Maybe someone else knows of a better solution.
Well, Ctrl+Alt+Tab is the one used because it was the
one used at GNOME 2. Anyway, there is a work in
progress effort in order to define new keyshortcuts
for gnome-shell:
I suggested them some others, like direct access to
the Dash and others.
I honestly don't know that this is a case where a
simpler shortcut is necessary, or if it should be
considered a case where users need adapted systems. I'll
ask around in the accessibility community here and see
what people think, and comment there if it seems like the
solution we have is not up to standards.
I got a reply from a therapist who also works with kids with
developmental and physical disabilities, and she also agreed
that this could be improved. I see from the link that the
proposal is to change this to tab, which would be much easier
to use.
Allan Day mentioned that during GUADEC. His proposal is that when
you move to the overview, one of the main region (like the top
panel) would receive the focus. Then you could move between regions
using tab, and move inside a container using the arrows. In order to
avoid too many tabs to go to a specific regio, we could define
shortcuts to move to specific regions (ie: a shortcut to move to the
Dash), and maintain the Ctrl+Alt+Tab switcher as legacy (as some
users are still using it). You can see the bug that tracks this and
the conversation here:
My only doubts right now about this proposal are:
* Allan mentioned that one of the reasons is being consistent with
Gtk. But in gtk tab doesn't move to the next container. In most
cases Tab and right arrow are the same. So not sure if the user
could get confused if in the shell Tab moves between containers
* All this could help on the overview, but we would have the same
issues on the "normal view", although I suppose that the same
solution is proposed there (but not sure).
As I mention at the comment
It might be a good idea to propose that the shortcuts for
switching between workspaces also be simple, since that is
also difficult for users with physical disabilities to use.
IMHO, this is a minor problem as you can define the shortcut to
switch between workspaces. I personally use Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, etc. The
problem with the region switcher is that, AFAIK, you couldn't define
a custom shortcut. Probably adding the possibility to redefine the
shortcut would be a good feature.
Does anyone see a reason for me to not ask for a simple
shortcut for that
FWIW, what is the current (so complex) default shortcut for
switching between workspaces? I thought that was Ctrl+Arrow key.
Which simpler shortcut do you have in mind?
The proposal is ctrl+super+down (or up). I understand what you are saying about custom shortcuts, but I would expect that something commonly used by people who can't use the mouse should be simple. Having simplicity there would in no way convenience other users. There are undoubtedly other considerations (like whether the shortcut is commonly used in applications), but I don't see why it would hurt to ask for this. The worst thing that can happen is that we end up maintaining the status quo as listed on the whiteboard.
On Sat, Aug 25,
2012 at 1:11 PM, meg ford <meg387 gmail com>
wrote:
The
activities overview really doesn't
work well for people with physical
disabilities. Using the mouse to
choose an application can be very
tiring, and sometimes impossible for
such users. Typing the name of the
application is also really difficult.
Looking here [1] I don't see a way to
navigate the application icons using
the keyboard. Maybe that has been
added and the documentation hasn't
been updated?
There is a shell extension that
provides a Gnome 2 style
applications menu [2]. I think this
should be easier to use.
That's
a shame about the accident.
I'm glad that GNOME and
Debian have
worked for you until now.
The new menus _should_ be
accessible. May you please
explain what
about them isn't working
out? I'm sure that would
help to improve the
implementation. As it is,
adding a toggle between the
two menu layouts
is no simple task: with this
menu redesign, the idea of
grouping menu
items under things like
"Edit" and "View" is going
to drift away, so
even if the bits were in
place it would be quite
difficult to change
it back (especially
dynamically).
If I was to guess, the
biggest problem for
keyboard-accessibility is
that the menus don't open
with F10, so you have to
reach them with
Tab. Is that the gist of the
problem? That might be
something to
mandate in the HIG (and
maybe add at the toolkit
level), because it
_is_ quite surprising.
Google Chrome, for example,
is keyboard
accessible: its wrench menu
can be opened with the usual
mnemonics
(Alt+F or Alt+E). They
forgot that F10 is the
_real_ common
menu-opening shortcut, but
they did try :)
If you haven't already found
it, the keyboard shortcut to
get the
application menu (beside
Activities at the top left
of the screen) is
Super+F10. You can also use
the left and right arrow
keys to get
anywhere else on the top
bar. Do you find that one
works okay?
Thanks,
Dylan
On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at
9:29 AM, surma <surma hot ee> wrote:
>
> I’ve been using
debian since 27 March of
1996, before gnome
everything was quite
crappy, but I started
using gnome 11 June
2000, and linux turned
easy. Then (2004/2005) I
had a terrible car
accident, I got rammed,
then I spent 6 months in
coma, which messed up my
hands, so I can’t use
mouse, that’s why I
prefer keyboard. Maake a
place under gconf-editor
where you can choose the
style of menu, so people
can use either classic
or modern style.
>
> That’s why I can’t
use mouse.
> http://www.hot.ee/surma/Surma_24.12.05.jpg
> I built this car
myself … and had an
accident with it.
>
> This is what was
left of my car.
> http://www.hot.ee/surma/katki.jpg
> Tanel
>
