Vo cursor tracking

By Asemah, 20 October, 2017

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Hello please could someone kindly explain how to use the vo Cursor tracking and how to keep one Cursor in one place and use the other to eg type and read messages. Or type and adjust settings.

I have the key commands and have read the guide but I cannot get it to work.

Also I cannot get the drag and drop keys to work for me either. Is this only for apps or can it be used to move files and folders?

Please advise.

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Comments

By Brian on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

I know 'how' to turn on/off cursor tracking, I personally do not use this enough to give you the best advice. However, drag and drop is useful, but kind of sluggish. It is much easier to just 'move' files/folders/apps. Unless of course you are referring to the Dock, in which drag and drop is the way to go.
Steps for Drag & drop:
VO + Comma (marks item for d&d)
VO + Period (Drops item at VO cursor)
VO + LessThan (Drops item before VO cursor)
VO + GreaterThan (Drops item after VO cursor)
The problem with d&d is that you have to wait, sometimes many seconds for the 'function' to complete. Should you so much as sneeze the wrong way, it will cancel out.

An alternate method:
Simply 'copy' your file/folder/app with..
CMD + C (Copy item)
CMD + Option + V (Move item to where ever the hell you want)
Note: Make sure you are actually in the directory you want to move the file to.. :P

hth

By Asemah on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

Thank you very much for this info it has helped me understand when to use the drag and drop.

I knew the key commands but just not sure when or how to use. I will give this ago.

I don’t really get the cursor tracking I’ve got the commands but. It sure how to get it to work?

By Socheat on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

Hello, usually, do people prefer to turn it off completely, or leave it on?

By Asemah on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

I still cannot get it to work please can someone give any advice? I’m using MacBook Pro with touchbar and know the key commands but into sure how it works. The VO guide doesn’t explain how to get it to work?

By Chris on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

I prefer to leave cursor tracking enabled. I also set the mouse pointer to follow the VoiceOver cursor which follows the keyboard focus. This means the mouse pointer will follow me if I'm using VoiceOver navigation or standard MacOS system commands. There are situations where you may want to turn some or all of this behavior off. For instance, you may wish to leave the system keyboard focus in a text field while using VoiceOver to read chat messages or play a text game while keeping the cursor in the edit box to type. Be aware that the keyboard focus won't always follow the VoiceOver cursor. For example, it won't follow you when you move through chunks of text unless that text can be navigated and manipulated with the insertion point.

By Socheat on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

Thanks Chris for your explanation. I am fairly new to the Mac, so I am still learning about it.

By Asemah on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

In reply to by Chris

Hi Chris

Thank you for your reply.

Please could you go through the steps of how to use ? I just got a MacBook Pro recently too.

I couldn’t get the cursors to work independently. I turned the cursor tracking off with the keyboard command VO Shif F3 but then when I press other key commands nothing send to happen?
Can you go through a scenario and the key commands you use to make the cursors move independently. Then I can try folllow the steps to see if I can get it working.

That will be a great help :-).

By Chris on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

Let's take the example of reading chat messages. Open up Skype and navigate to the conversation you want to use. Now move to the text field. At this point, the VoiceOver cursor and keyboard focus are still synced. Now press VO Shift F3 to temporarily disable cursor tracking. When you move the VoiceOver cursor to the scroll area containing chat messages,the keyboard focus will not move from where you left it. Now you can use VoiceOver commands to read incoming chat messages and type on the keyboard to send messages. There are probably other places where this would be useful, such as reviewing a document without moving your cursor.

By Asemah on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

In reply to by Brian

Hey Brian

I tried this drag and drop - trying to\ organise safari bookmarks but it keeps saying failed to drop?

It selects the bookmark but doesn’t move it.
Not sure why it isn’t working?

Please help.

By Asemah on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 15:48

Hi thank you Chris finally got it to work in messages!

Now I can try in other applications and on safari :)

By Penelope on Saturday, January 14, 2023 - 15:48

Hello folks, my elderly blind friend is having trouble with his writing in both Text Edit and email. He says the cursor is to the left of the period/fullstop and commas in both programs. I've looked at his Voiceover Utility options in both Navigation and Verbosity but can't figure out why it's changed. Is there an accidental keyboard shortcut he could have made that changed this? Any ideas how to get and keep the cursor to the end of what he's writing?

I haven't been able to replicate the problem, but I'm not using Ventura, in case it's a bug and not user error.

In case that's unclear. He types: The quick, brown fox. He says the cursor ends up beween the x and the period. Same with the comma. I don't know whether all the letters are like that, cursor to the left, as he's in a location thousands of miles away. But I'm assuming that's the case. Would love any suggestions. Thank you!

This group is extraordinary. So grateful for you all.

Penelope
p.s. I scoured the web for the problem in case it isn't a VO problem (apparently not, but not sure if it's the same issue without the Voiceover) and found suggestions around the external mouse/trackpad so we're trying those. Hoping there might be an explanation in Voiceover settings. Thanks!