On a Mac, can you navigate menus with one handed key strokes like Windows?

I don't know about "one-handed", but you can move focus to the menu bar with Cntl-F2 (Fn-Cntl-F2 if you have an Fn key). You can navigate with arrow keys or by typing the beginning of a command name or menu name. Return activates the selection, Esc cancels. Cntl-F3 does the same with the Dock. Look up "Shortcuts for navigating the computer" in Mac Help for more tips.

Hi Derek Doublin1;

In order to switch from app to app on my Mac, I use Command + tab. This brings up a pane with all open apps and then allows you toggle through them by bumping the tab key.

Allan

Not really. However, she can turn on the shortcuts to move focus to the Menu, Dock, Status menu, etc. Keyboard System Prefs, Keyboard Shortcuts, Keyboard & Text input. Once you've activated the menu, you start typing the name of the menu to go to it, then spacebar to drop it down, and then start typing the name of the command.

I changed the shortcuts to ctrl-M and ctrl-D to activate menu and dock.

[Actual studies|http://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html] have found it is faster to use the mouse to make command activations than using keyboard shortcuts.

If she doesn't want to move the mouse out of the canvas, then the only other option I know of is the above.

Another way: install [DejaMenu|http://homepage.mac.com/khsu/DejaMenu/DejaMenu.html] a free addon. Configure a hot key and it will pop all the menu items onscreen under where the mouse pointer is. You can then move around the menus with the Arrow keys or the first letter of each grouping.

Regards

TD

Barney-15E wrote:
[Actual studies| http://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html ] have found it is faster to use the mouse to make command activations than using keyboard shortcuts.

The 20-year-old argument on that web page isn't very convincing. Keyboard shortcuts are certainly faster for experience power users who do the same thing every day. The mouse is faster only for new users or users doing non-repetitive commands every day.

It is interesting that one of the posts on that page said this:

I remember one mainframe company in the sixties that came up with the following command-key guidelines:
Use the first letter of the command word
If the first letter is already used, use the last letter
If the last letter is already used, use the second letter
If the second letter is already used, use the second-to-the-last letter
etc.

This is actually very similar to how the keyboard-driven menus work in Mac OS X. The advantage over the Windows method is that when there is more than one command in a menu that shares the same first letter, you do not have to memorize which command uses which letter. You just type ahead until the correct command is selected.

I would, however, encourage Derek Doublin1's girlfriend to learn the direct keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop. On Mac or PC, for me pressing Command-Option-I is much faster than either the mouse or using the keyboard to drop the Image menu and walk down to the Image Size command.

The 20-year-old argument on that web page isn't very convincing. Keyboard shortcuts are certainly faster for experience power users who do the same thing every day. The mouse is faster only for new users or users doing non-repetitive commands every day.

Do you have proof of that claim, or do you just think so?

If you can operate two-handed, then you can be much faster, also. In the OP's case, I would suggest hitting the menu with the mouse and then key in the name of the command. Eventually, you will get used to knowing which commands can be hit with one letter, or two, or three, etc.

There is also a vast difference between using the menus on Windows and using the menus on a Mac. The Mac has an infinitely large target because the menus are pinned to the top of the screen. No matter how fast you go, you can't overshoot. In Windows, you must slow down to hit the target. From my own experience, submenus in Windows are difficult to keep open when you go to select an item. But that is probably a muscle memory thing that my use of the Mac prevents me from moving the mouse precisely enough to hit the target.

Barney-15E wrote:
Do you have proof of that claim, or do you just think so?

Just time it. You can access several major commands in a row using single left hand keystrokes, while someone else is still targeting and flipping down menus. The time saving is cumulative. But again - this is not uniform across all users. Users who have not memorized keystrokes will be faster locating the correct command with the mouse or by digging through menus with the keyboard.

But in most good apps, you can optimize the keyboard for the user by customizing the direct keyboard shortcuts. This will accelerate the keyboard advantage further by allowing the user to assign the shortcuts they want, as well as adding shortcuts to commands that do not have them.

Again, I am not disputing that the mouse is faster for some operations and some users. The mistake you are making is generalizing the claim across all users and operations. In this thread we are concerned with a power user (the girlfriend), who would be in the class who benefits most from keyboard shortcuts.

If you can operate two-handed, then you can be much faster, also.

In Photoshop I am talking about working two-handed. Many Adobe apps are designed so that right hand is on the stylus and left hand is pressing one-key or two-key shortcuts.

Network 23 wrote:

Barney-15E wrote:
Do you have proof of that claim, or do you just think so?

Just time it. You can access several major commands in a row using single left hand keystrokes, while someone else is still targeting and flipping down menus.

Again, do you have an actual study that supports your supposition. A single anecdotal test of one user isn't very convincing.

Again, do you have an actual study that supports your supposition. A single anecdotal test of one user isn't very convincing.

Let's not take this devil's advocacy thing too far. It's plainly evident that pressing command-s is faster than navigating to File -> Save, given perfect coordination of fingers. What mars any study of this sort of thing is the fact that different people have different levels of coordination, different mental and physical work patterns, etc.

I use a MacBook Pro with a trackpad, and don't use an external mouse, so my right hand is never far from the keyboard. I also keep my left hand on or near the keyboard at all times. And, as I've been touch-typing on a daily basis for probably two and a half decades, I can hit almost any key or key combination I want very quickly, without looking, with a very low error rate. Contrast this with a hunt-and-peck typist who keeps one hand on a mouse, the other hand on top of the desk and the keyboard on a keyboard drawer. If you try to include both of us in a study, the results will be wrong for both of us.

It is my personal belief that anyone who trains himself to use keyboard commands and keeps his off-hand on or near the keyboard will always be faster than someone who only uses one-handed mousing for everything. No, I don't have a study that shows this. It's simply self-evident. Tie one hand behind your back and see how it affects your day... why should doing the same thing with a computer be any different?

It's simply self-evident.

Having studied enough Statistical Analysis coupled with evaluating weapon performance for the past 6 years, nothing is self-evident.

And, we're not talking about cmd-s. We're talking alt-f-o-c or some similar combination to get into a hierarchical submenu. Memorizing long, convoluted keystrokes is not faster than hitting the menu with the mouse.

If you can work two-handed, mouse and keyboard, their studies found you can get better overall performance. For the OPs question, I would imagine hitting the menu with the mouse to activate, then a couple of keys to get to the specific menu item would likely be faster than the alt-key sequence. However, you'd have to learn a completely new set of letters.

Having studied enough Statistical Analysis coupled with evaluating weapon performance for the past 6 years, nothing is self-evident.

Yeah, yeah, I know... I'm a scientist by disposition myself and typically dislike it when people use the kind of argument I just did. But, honestly, sometimes the reality of a situation is perfectly clear without needing study.

And, we're not talking about cmd-s. We're talking alt-f-o-c or some similar combination

Okay, I can see the argument in this case. Although I believe that I could access certain menu items faster using control-F2 followed by some fast finger work, I know that I'd be slower for others. (In Safari, for example, try to get to Private Browsing this way... control-F2 + s + space + p + r + i + return. Or worse, try Develop -> Show Snippet Editor!)

I think that, if you had to frequently access a menu item with no built-in shortcut, you'd be better off creating a custom shortcut for it than trying to use this cumbersome method for accessing menus.

... and if you have CTS forcing you to wear braces when sitting at the keyboard, the shortcuts are MUCH faster and easier than shifting hand position, moving to the mouse, gripping it, and getting oriented.

So the real answer is (most likely) "It depends on the individual user". 😉