Bug 92607 - ACCESSIBILITY: improve one-handed usability
Summary: ACCESSIBILITY: improve one-handed usability
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: Other All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: accessibility
Depends on:
Blocks: a11y, Accessibility
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Reported: 2015-07-07 21:00 UTC by MarjaE
Modified: 2023-10-15 20:39 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description MarjaE 2015-07-07 21:00:50 UTC
Some people may need to use their computers with one hand. I have had to do so due to injuries [my good arm in a sling, several years back] and coordination problems [can't coordinate my good and my bad arm].

Some potential problems:

Commands which require users to mouse and to press keys at the same time.

Commands which require users to press two keys far from each other.

Commands which require users to press two keys in a position which requires twisting their hand.

Some solutions:

Switch control?

Sticky keys?

Mouse menus with 2-button mice?

Mouse-to-command options with 3+ button mice?

An accessibility manual alongside the Draw, Calc, etc. manuals?
Comment 1 tommy27 2015-07-08 05:48:01 UTC
(In reply to MarjaE from comment #0)
> ......
> 
> Some potential problems:
> 
> Commands which require users to mouse and to press keys at the same time.

please provide an example

> Commands which require users to press two keys far from each other.
> 
> Commands which require users to press two keys in a position which requires
> twisting their hand.
> 
> ....

I understand that some Shortcuts like "Ctrl+Shift+something" may be hard to use with one hand only.

anyway you may customize shortcuts from "Tools/Customize/Keyboard" and change the hard one with something easier for one-hand-only users
Comment 2 MarjaE 2015-07-08 14:24:23 UTC
> Commands which require users to mouse and to press keys at the same time.

> please provide an example

Alt+Click
Comment 3 tommy27 2015-07-08 15:14:06 UTC
Ok. valuable enhancement request. status NEW.
Comment 4 MarjaE 2016-04-28 17:07:37 UTC
For Mac users, such as myself, some of the shortcuts involving function keys are also a problem.

In Draw, I'm supposed to be able to enter a group using F3 and leave using Control+F3. On the Mac, that becomes fn+F3 and Command+fn+F3.

Command+fn+F3 either requires (a) two hands, or (b) two thumbs on one hand, on the same side, or (c) sticky keys, or (d) turning the keyboard around, or (e) building a stencil to press all three eys at once.

(c) may be the most practical option.
Comment 5 MarjaE 2016-07-28 16:48:23 UTC
Currently, it seems to require either command+click, control+click, or another key+mouse combination to open hyperlinks in LibreOffice Docs. The exact combination depends on the operating system and settings. I haven't been able to find alternatives in the Getting Started and Calc guides.

Software such as sticky keys can help, but keyboard-only and mouse-only solutions would also help for users who don't have two hands, or can't use two hands at once.
Comment 6 BogdanB 2023-10-08 18:16:10 UTC
There are special keyboards like this, for this case:
https://abilitynet.org.uk/factsheet/keyboard-single-handed-use
Comment 7 MarjaE 2023-10-08 18:43:20 UTC
That doesn't address commands which rely on keyboard + mouse combinations.
Comment 8 Michael Weghorn 2023-10-15 20:24:39 UTC
(In reply to MarjaE from comment #5)
> Currently, it seems to require either command+click, control+click, or
> another key+mouse combination to open hyperlinks in LibreOffice Docs. The
> exact combination depends on the operating system and settings. I haven't
> been able to find alternatives in the Getting Started and Calc guides.
> 
> Software such as sticky keys can help, but keyboard-only and mouse-only
> solutions would also help for users who don't have two hands, or can't use
> two hands at once.

I'm not really familiar with this, but features like sticky keys sound exactly like what's there to address this.

(In reply to MarjaE from comment #7)
> That doesn't address commands which rely on keyboard + mouse combinations.

I've just tested this on KDE Plasma (X11 session) with the Sticky Keys feature enabled.
Pressing Ctrl, and then clicking on a hyperlink in Calc worked in my tests for opening a hyperlink in Calc, so that seems to work fine without requiring to use two hands at the same time when Sticky Keys are enabled.

For a keyboard-only solution to open links in Calc, there's bug 123159.

Can you please be more specific what else is missing exactly or why the Sticky key feature would not be an adequate solution?
Comment 9 MarjaE 2023-10-15 20:39:40 UTC
Command-then-click currently works.