Keyboard Maestro 6.4 now accessible

By Scott H, 30 March, 2014

Forum

macOS and Mac Apps

Hi, my friend Keith and I been working with the developer of the popular Mac application Keyboard Maestro to make it more accessible with VoiceOver. I’m pleased to report that the latest update includes a number of accessibility fixes, which now makes much of the application usable with VoiceOver. There are, however, still a few areas that need further work, but the developer is striving to address these in a future update. In the meantime, Keith and I will be recording a podcast which demonstrates some of the features of KeyBoard Maestro and how it can be used with VoiceOver. If you’re not familiar with Keyboard Maestro, it’s a Mac application that allows you to perform a multitude of tasks simply by pressing a keystroke. It also incorporates the MacOS Classic utility Program Switcher, which allows you to launch, switch, and quit applications with a simple keystroke. More information on Keyboard Maestro can be found on the developer’s website at: http://www.keyboardmaestro.com Keyboard Maestro usually sells for $36, but the developer has very kindly passed us a discount code which will save you 20%. The code is APPLEVIS (must be in all caps) and can be redeemed through the developer’s website. Scott

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Comments

this app sounds cool.

Hi. I just looked at this apps website this looks like a really neat application. I look forward to the podcast on it.

A question about the promo code

I'm really glad to hear that Keyboard Maestro is now accessible. The ideas of what might be possible with this software have intrigued me for a while now. I tried it out about a year ago. Now that it has become accessible, it's too bad that I can't reset the demo mode and get a more accurate feel for what it can do. How long will this promo code be valid? I'd love to check this out, but won't be able to for at least another month.

Regarding Promotion code

Justin, Peter did not indicate a period of time the offer would be valid; however, he reserves the right to change/cancel this promotion at any time. I am confident he will keep this in place for a while yet. So, if you choose to purchase next month, I think you will be just fine. Keith and I hope to get the podcast out within the next week or so. We had to work through some technical challenges in order to pull this demo together. We are nearly ready to start recording.

Couple of questions

Hi Scott. Thanks for all your work with the developer and the podcast. I'm trying the app out at the moment and have a couple of questions, if you don't mind.
1. I got the dialogue box telling me to give Keyboard Maestro access in the Security and Privacy panel of System Preferences, which I have done. However I can't seem to set hot key combos that include the two VoiceOver keys. For example I wanted to enter Shift-Control-Option-O, but it would not enter in the field for me. Other key combos are entering fine though. Is it not possible to do combos which include the two VoiceOver keys? Or am I doing something wrong?
2. I've noticed that when Keyboard Maestro Engine is running, the Command-Tab keystroke for switching between open apps is messed up and not working properly. Do you have the same issue? And if so, is there a work around?
3. I have a lot of files with the .html extension. By default these open in Safari. I want to create a KM hot key that will allow me to easily choose to open these files in another app instead, called Taco HTML, so I don't have to open a context menu, scroll down to "Open With", and find Taco in the menu. Do you know how I'd do this with KM?
I found an action called Open File or Folder or Application, but this seems to require me to select a specific file that will open in the chosen app when I press the hot key, rather than being a hot key to open any file in Taco. Any help appreciated.
Many thanks,
Dave

I noticed the cmd tab thign

I noticed the cmd tab thign not working either. I promptly uninstalled the app. I cannot recall how ever if somethign was mentioned about this or not in any read me as the read me was so confusing I could not rap my head around it.

Answers to questions

Hi Dave 82 and Mary,

I emailed the developer about the command-tab issue. He said it had to do with the way KM changes the switchers, and you can disable these from the global macros list. Think I said his exact email over on the app directory entry.

As far as getting files to always open in specific applications, there is an easier way to do it using Finder. Go to your html file and get info with command i. Expand the extensions tab, and choose your desired application. It should then have a checkbox like, "Always use" but I can't remember the exact wording. I use this to open my mp3's in VLC, as I don't want random things added to my iTunes library.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Chelsea. I'll have a

Thanks Chelsea. I'll have a look for that over on the app entry. Regarding the opening apps, thanks for the tip. However, I actually sometimes want to open the files in Safari and sometimes in Taco, depending on whether I want to view or edit the page. So I was hoping to use the default Command-O for one, and set up another key combo for the other, if that makes sense. I thought Keyboard Maestro might be an option for that, though I wouldn't buy it just for that. I'm sure there are loads of ways I can use it once I get to grips with it.
Thanks,
Dave.

Shortcuts with VO Keys

If VoiceOver is running, all keystrokes which include the Control and Option keys are overriden by VoiceOver, whether they do anything or not. This means that the keystrokes will not be seen by any other app.

You can work around this by pressing VO-Tab, which tells VoiceOver to ignore the next keypress, as a passthrough. However, I would recommend not using any keystrokes with Control and Option, because you would have to perform two keystrokes every time you want to use one of them.

Thanks all

Thanks all for the help. And I found the shortcut I wanted too, by using the "Open Finder Selection In" action. Now to see what else I can do with this thing :)