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Another newly written and informative article from Alex Hall, one of
my <br>
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heroes in the Apple world ...<br>
<br>
Getting VoiceOver Help on Your Mac<br>
JULY 11, 2014 BY MEHGCAP<br>
Intro<br>
When you first get a Mac, and are learning VoiceOver, it can
be hard to <br>
remember the myriad commands available. Some are pretty
easy, like <br>
control-option-w to read the current word. Some are quite
complex or <br>
seldom used, such as control-option-command-f5 to move the
mouse pointer <br>
to where VoiceOver is focused. Then there are the core
concepts, like <br>
interacting, moving around dialogs, getting to menus, and
plenty more. <br>
So, I wanted to offer a guide that does not explain most of
the commands <br>
and concepts, but rather tells you where to go if you need
help. Mailing <br>
lists, books, online resources, and cheat sheets are great,
but there <br>
are powerful help facilities built right into every Mac,
just a <br>
keystroke or two away at any time. The trick is knowing how
to access them.<br>
Keyboard Keys and Layout<br>
First, let's be sure you know where to find the keys you
will be using <br>
for this. I will assume you know where the letters are, but
the <br>
modifiers (control, option, command, and function) can be
harder to <br>
figure out and memorize.<br>
On any Apple keyboard, such as the Apple Wireless Keyboard
that comes <br>
with most Mac desktops or the keyboard built into any
Macbook, the order <br>
of the bottom row of keys is, from left to right:<br>
▪function<br>
▪control<br>
▪option<br>
▪command<br>
▪space<br>
▪command<br>
▪option<br>
▪arrow keys<br>
The VoiceOver keys, control and option, are used to control
VoiceOver, <br>
hence the name. Often, you will see commands like "vo-f";
that just <br>
means control-option-f. Again, the control and option keys
are next to <br>
each other, the two middle keys in the group of four to the
left of the <br>
spacebar. There are no VoiceOver keys on the right side of
the spacebar <br>
because there is no control key there.<br>
On non-Apple keyboards, things get more interesting. Since I
have no way <br>
of knowing the layout of your keyboard, I will instead
explain which <br>
non-Apple keys map to what on the Mac.<br>
▪Control is the same.<br>
▪The Windows key is the command key.<br>
▪The alt key is the option key.<br>
On many non-Apple keyboards, the usual order is control,
Windows, alt, <br>
space, alt, Windows, applications, control. If your keyboard
has that <br>
layout, then the VoiceOver keys will be found on either side
of the <br>
Windows key.<br>
Now that we are on the same page as far as where the keys
are, let's <br>
start pressing some!<br>
The Help Menu<br>
Control-option-h is perhaps the most useful command you have
when you <br>
need help. It offers six options:<br>
▪Online help, which opens up the OS x Help Viewer to show
the VoiceOver <br>
manual<br>
▪Commands Help Menu, which is discussed in more detail below<br>
▪Keyboard Help, again discussed in its own section<br>
▪Sounds Help Menu, which is a menu of every sound VoiceOver
can produce <br>
and a textual description of what that sound represents<br>
▪Quick Start Tutorial, the tutorial that covers the basics
of using <br>
VoiceOver. When you first ran VoiceOver on your new Mac,
this tutorial <br>
was offered, and here is a way to go through it again.<br>
▪Getting Started Guide, which opens a webpage in Safari that
explains <br>
the essentials of VoiceOver.<br>
Key Description Mode<br>
Perhaps the easiest way to check what a keystroke does, or
simply <br>
practice keystrokes or trackpad commands, is to press
buttons and see <br>
what happens. Fortunately, VoiceOver allows you to do just
that. To <br>
enter this mode, which VoiceOver calls "Keyboard Help",
press <br>
control-option-k. When you are in this mode, no VoiceOver
commands will <br>
be executed, and most system commands are stopped as well.
Only <br>
VoiceOver commands are actually described, though. For
example, if you <br>
are in Text Edit and enter Keyboard Help, pressing
control-option-w will <br>
tell you that what you just pressed reads the current word.
Pressing <br>
command-s, on the other hand, will cause VoiceOver to say
the keys you <br>
pressed, but will not say that those keys are to save the
current <br>
document, since command-s is not a VoiceOver command. Still,
this is a <br>
perfect mode to just press keys and key combinations to see
what does <br>
what, and, for the most part, you can't hurt anything
because almost no <br>
commands will go through. When you are done, just hit the
escape key <br>
(the top left key on most keyboards) and your Mac will
return to normal.<br>
Keyboard Help is a misleading term, as it is even more
powerful than <br>
that. If you use the Trackpad Commander, this mode will also
describe, <br>
but not run, any touch gestures you care to test out. It
will do the <br>
same for any other Commanders you have set up. Quick Nav is
the only <br>
exception; to hear descriptions of what the arrow keys do,
you must <br>
enable Quick Nav, then turn on Keyboard Help. Even then, you
will not be <br>
told what single keys (such as H for headings) do.<br>
Commands Help Menu (control-option-h-h)<br>
Hold down the control and option keys, then hit h twice. You
will be <br>
placed in a new menu which lists every function of which
VoiceOver is <br>
capable, sorted by category. Use up or down arrow to move
through the <br>
different categories, right arrow to expand the desired
category, then <br>
up or down to browse the items. Left arrow will close an
open category <br>
and move you back to the main menu. While you are at this
main menu, you <br>
can also start typing the particular command you are looking
for. If, <br>
for eexample, you know you want the command to copy the last
spoken <br>
phrase to the clipboard, just start typing "copy" and any
commands <br>
matching that search will be shown. There is no need to
press enter <br>
after typing, the search happens with every letter you
press. To clear <br>
the search, simply hit delete (usually found on the number
row, all the <br>
way to the right). To execute any command you find in this
set of menus, <br>
you need only press enter. To close the menu, press escape.<br>
Searching the Menu Bar<br>
While this is not specific to VoiceOver, it is worth
mentioning as it <br>
can be a huge time-saver. Most every Mac app includes menus
(File, Edit, <br>
Window, and others), each of which has commands. Often,
these commands <br>
have keystrokes bound to them, such as command-q for quit or
command-s <br>
for save. If you cannot recall a particular keystroke,
though, or if the <br>
option you want does not have an assigned keystroke and you
haven't <br>
assigned your own, , you can just run a quick search. How?<br>
▪Press control-option-m to move to the Menu Bar, then
navigate to the <br>
Help menu. Usually, you can just press H, but if another
menu also <br>
starts with H you may need to type more of the word "help".
<br>
Alternatively, simply use left or right arrow to move to the
Help menu. <br>
Once you are on it, press down arrow.<br>
▪VoiceOver should say "Search. Search result, interactive."
At this <br>
point, just start typing the name of the command you are
looking for. <br>
Don't press enter, just type some or all of the command's
name.<br>
▪Once you have typed what you want, press down arrow to
examine the <br>
results. First will be a section of matches to items in the
current <br>
app's menus; once you hear the one you want, simply press
enter. After <br>
that list will be matches in the Mac's built-in help;
pressing enter on <br>
one of those will open the relevant section in the OS X Help
Viewer. <br>
Note that this help is not VoiceOver-specific.<br>
▪If you do not find the command you want, or wish to abandon
the search, <br>
just press escape (you may need to do that a few times) and
the menu, <br>
then the menu bar, will close and you will be back in the
main window of <br>
the app you started from.<br>
Other Resources<br>
As mentioned above, the VoiceOver Help Menu lets you open
local <br>
documentation in the Help Viewer, as well as a web-based
guide (the <br>
Getting Started Guide). I find navigation in the Help Viewer
to <br>
sometimes be a bit strange, so I strongly recommend that new
VoiceOver <br>
users go for the Getting Started guide, which opens in
Safari, instead. <br>
At the most basic, you can get around the pages with <br>
control-option-right arrow and control-option-left arrow (to
move left <br>
and right through the text and links). Use
control-option-space to <br>
activate a link, and command-left bracket to go back a page
(such as to <br>
return to the table of contents).<br>
Of course, AppleVis has plenty of resources to help new Mac
users who <br>
are just starting out. If you get stuck at any point, don't
hesitate to <br>
ask your questions on our forums and someone will be glad to
try to help <br>
you out. Finally, the most popular email list for visually
impaired Mac <br>
users I know of is Macvisionaries, which is a moderately
high-traffic <br>
list but has a lot of very knowledgeable people ready to
help you out. <br>
Finally, if you are on Twitter, feel free to ask questions
of @VOTips <br>
and I will try to answer. The @VOTips timeline also includes
many <br>
helpful tricks for Mac and iOS users which you may find
useful.<br>
<br>
-- <br>
David Goldfield,<br>
<br>
Founder and Peer Coordinator,<br>
Philadelphia Computer Users' Group for the Blind and
Visually Impaired<br>
<br>
Feel free to visit my new Web site<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.DavidGoldfield.info/">http://www.DavidGoldfield.info/</a><br>
<br>
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