Hi all.
I'm using the Mini with an iClever keyboard, and I'm missing what I assume are default keyboard shortcuts, e.g. f4 for launchpad, cmd-; (semicolon) to move to next misspelling, and so on. A couple of questions.
1. If I get an Apple keyboard, considering it for other reasons not just this, will they show up? I don't see why they're not showing up here, since the keyboard reconfigures itself for whatever it's paired to, and the Mini seems to like it just fine.
2. Assuming that's not the case, anybody know of a complete list somewhere? To be clear, these are whatever non-Voiceover shortcuts that are supposed to be there, all of the VOshortcuts work just fine.
3. Do we have a tutorial on how to add shortcuts? I didn't quite get how to do that, although to be fair I looked at it pretty briefly. Or is there an easier way of getting them back than adding all of them manually?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Comments
Is there a FN key?
If there is a FN key, it could be why some of the hardcoded OS shortcuts are not working.
There is.
Hitting fn-f4, which I thought did nothing, actually switched me to another window, preview containing something I'm reading, as it happens. So it's doing something, but not launchpad, which is what I thought f4 is supposed to do.
My function keys are set to function keys by default, so I have to hit fn-f7 to play or pause media, I think that's what it is anyway. Doesn't the standard Apple keyboard have fn as well though? I mean I assume there has to be a way to tell it you want normal function keys if it's set to media keys by default, or the other way round.
Good point, but...
Good point, but alas, I am only familiar with macOS on a laptop, as in a MacBook Pro, my old laptop that is currently collecting dust on my desk. Still, unless much has changed since Ventura, you should be able to go into Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts and adjust accordingly. 🙂
Shortcut key combinations and keyboard layouts
Traditionally, everything you can do with a native MacOS application is available as an option from the menu bar at the top of the screen, and the right way for developers to add shortcuts is to simply assign them to those options when the menu bar is populated. This has several advantages, such as providing developers with a convenient way that is good enough in most situations to capture key combinations without forcing them to implement their own solutions to tap into and handle input events, serving as a form of documentation since the shortcuts are listed along with the labels in menu options, and even providing users of assisted tech like us with spoken announcements whenever we press key combinations assigned to shortcuts in the application's menu. So, to learn about a native application's shortcuts, just browse its menus from the menu bar at the top of the screen, which can be accessed using VoiceOver by pressing VO+M when the application is in focus.
On Mac keyboards, by default the function key row is used for special functions, so to make them work like regular function keys on other keyboards, you have to press the Globe or Fn modifier key, which is a soft key like any other as far as the hardware is concerned so software is free to decide how to make use of it. Since on third-party keyboards this modifier key is often either not physically available, or is hard-wired to provide specific functions, my guess is that Apple just defaults to the standard function of those keys when a third-part keyboard is connected. In addition, the Apple / Command and Option keys from Mac keyboards are often label as Windows / Super and Alt keys respectively on third-party keyboards.
Most Mac applications, including VoiceOver itself, are designed with the US Apple keyboard layout in mind. This has some implications for shortcuts that can range from just being less comfortable all the way to being completely impossible to perform on certain keyboard layouts. For this reason, because in addition I find US keyboards to be more comfortable for programming, and finally because I also have a strong distaste for the physical arrangement of the keys on ISO Apple keyboards, all My Macs are built-to-order with the US ANSI keyboard layout. Whenever I have to write in European Portuguese, which is my native language and dialect, I either temporarily switch the keyboard layout, or if I'm just writing my own name which has an A with a tilda, I just long-press the A key and choose the appropriate character from the pop-up menu.
Application-specific keyboard shortcuts can either be configured at the system level through the Keyboard pane in System Settings or in the Preferences pane of some applications like Xcode. In addition, the whole system can be controlled by services generated in the Shortcuts or Automator built-in applications that can be added to the Services submenu of the Apple menu., which just like any other menu, can also have keyboard shortcuts that in this case become globally available since the Apple menu is always present.
VO-h
Hi. What happens when you presxs vo-h? You should see a new menu, and you should find a ton of keyboard shortcuts there. Also, in regard to what the previous poster posted, you will need to have your verbosity set to read the keyboard shortcuts when browsing your menu bar. Lastly, the VoiceOver User Manual should have an appendix listing all keyboard shortcuts for VoiceOver, and your OS user guide should have one for all other keyboard shortcuts.
This post might be helpful
Check out this thread from Arya, from 2023. It is based off of Ventura, but should be useful still.
https://www.applevis.com/guides/mac-voiceover-keystrokes-alphabet-function-keys-macos-13-ventura