are there any settings to make voiceover act similar to how NVDA does? I've recently had the chance to use NCDA but i do not have a windows machine at the moment and my Mac is one of the ones that can't install bootcamp, and i also like how the mac generally works.
Kind Regards
By bexgray01, 3 June, 2024
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Comments
Different operating systems
Well you could change all the keystrokes to NVDA ones. But then you'd have to learn system keystrokes too and I'm not sure how those might work in conjunction with custom VoiceOver keystrokes.
Kevan - thanks, how would i go about this?
thanks, would i use the keyboard commander to do this or the single key quick nav? i don't know whether the single key quick nav is adjustable or not.
More Details
WHen you're saying NVDA settings, do you mean announcements, navigation, controls etc? Or is it about commands?
Maldalain - commands and navigation
i'm mainly thinking commands and navigation, but the others would be useful too. admittedly, i'm pretty new to all of this, and haven't had much of a chance to look deeper into NVDA other than keyboard commands and navigation, so those are my main ones
Similarities
Could you provide examples where you want VO to simulate NVDA?
Maldalain - Similarities
my main things would be using the down arrow instead of Vo plus right arrow
also the lack of interacting in and out of things makes the navigation so much faster
also having the settings be right there with NVDA plus n rather than waiting for the voiceover utility to load then having to interact in and out of the options to get to where i want
also the working with microsoft word is much easier than having to interact in and out of the edit text,, etc
i also found the verbosity betarer and the braille settings easier too
vo is so much more powerful then NVDA
why would you want a basic screen reader when you could have a power house? take the time to learnn voiceover.
Some old posts that may assist...
Hi,
I found some old articles that may (or may not) be of some assistance. The first link is from 2014 if I recall, and while the provided download link is broken, you may be able to contact the OP and ask for an updated link/file.
To put it simply, they utilized Keyboard commander to give VoiceOver keystrokes similar to JAWS. Which means they could be edited to reflect NVDA.
The second link is just a guide for setting up VO to be effective and productive, and is focused on code writing.
Anyway, good luck~
https://applevis.com/forum/macos-mac-apps/making-voiceover-act-more-other-screen-readers
https://applevis.com/forum/macos-mac-apps/tips-power-usersanyone-does-more-read-emailslight-web-browsing-be-more
Using voiceover with the trackpad?
Can’t you navigate through the computer using the mouse/trackpad the same way you would actually use your iPhone?
Dennis Long - I find VO very complex to use
I understand that VO is a "power house" but i honestly find it hard to work with because of all the interacting in and out of things and I have had trouble with tech before (managed to delete wifi and bluetooth drivers off a windows machine which is why i switched to mac in the first place - back when i could see - so that i couldn't accidentally mess things up)
Brian - thnak you, i will look into these
thanks so much, I'll look into this!
Stephen - i have tried this but it was unsuccessful
Thanks for the suggestion, but i have tried this in the past and found it bery different to using my iphone (i use the flat navigation there not the grouped one so it feels very different)
i also found that the gestures often just don't work? maybe i'm just doing it wrong though
excuse me but...
ummm NVDA is not a basic screen reader as Dennis has stated. VO is fine but not powerful. Maybe it was very innovative back in time, but now don't think so. I'm not going to start argument. But stating that NVDA is a basic screen reader made my brain spin.
GAAD
Perhaps you will be able to get closer to what you want later this year. Apple announced on Global Accessibility Awareness Day that they are adding VoiceOver keyboard customisation this year. It’ll be interesting to see how that works.
As much as I like Mac, I’m not sure how VoiceOver could be described as more powerful or better than NVDA either.
Dave
Everyone - thanks
I'm sorry for unintentionally starting a bit of conflict here, I didn't mean to.
The Global Accessibility Awareness Day update sounds interesting, I'll have to look out for that.
I have heard that NVDA may be coming to mac someday, but for now I guess I'll have to either keep trying to get VO to work for me, and if it doesn't, then try and use both windows and mac (one at home and the other at uni) or something like that.
Thank you all for all your help
Grouping behavior and Quick Nav
To minimize the amount of interacting you have to do when navigating interfaces in macOS, you can change VoiceOver's grouping behavior in VoiceOver Utility > Navigation. Specifically, if you choose to ignore groups, most nested elements will appear flat, with no way to interact or stop interacting with them.
Regarding Quick Nav, the various commands can be customized by going to VoiceOver Utility > Commanders > Quick Nav, and clicking Assign commands. You'll then be presented with a table with commands and menu buttons; click the menu button for the command you want to change in the table and choose an alternative action from the menu, or click Add to add a command for a key that is not listed.
HTH
Tyler - thanks
Hi Tyler
Thanks for this, I've changed it and it appears slightly easier, although i now need to have my cursor following the voiceover cursor because if i try to (for example) open an email the VO cursor is on without havign the mouse cursor on it, it will open a different email which is slightly confusing
sorry for all the confusion with this i'm a bit useless with tech haha
NVDA
I used it and it can be like jaws if you install addons
So no it isn’t a basic screenreader like Dennis says