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Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2019 - 05 - 29 - ID#bujwo5
7
screen readers and compact keyboard layouts (self.Blind)
submitted by Altie-McAltface
I've been using a nice 104 key mechanical keyboard for several years now, and it's worked great with both JAWS and NVDA. However, I've recently developed a repetitive strain injury in my right shoulder, meaning full sized keyboards are out. I've tried some compact keyboards, namely the HHKB lite 2 and apple wireless keyboard, and haven't been impressed in terms of their compatibility with screen readers. Does anyone have a compact keyboard with NVDA or JAWS that they can recommend? I just can't go back to regular rubber dome keyboards after years of awesome tactile and audible feedback that mechanical keyboards give me.

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UPDATE:

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I ended up going with the Vortexgear Race 3 RGB. It's basically laid out like an older laptop keyboard, with the home, page up, page down, and end keys in a vertical column along the right edge. The insert key is available on a second layer, but both JAWS and NVDA can be configured to use caps lock as the modifier, so it's not a big deal. Perhaps the biggest thing for me was the presence of a break key, again on a second layer. I need that when working with serial terminals.
[deleted] 1 points 4y ago
I can't deal with foam rubber keyboards either, because I feel like I have to beat the hell out of the keys to get a decent rhythm. The best compact keyboard I ever used was the Typematrix ones. I'm not sure if they still make them as I got a prototype a few years ago. I don't have your injuries, so I can't test that, and they didn't have them in bluetooth, but if it's just for a laptop, maybe that doesn't matter as much. They use scissor switches, which are a bit clicky, but nowhere near as good as IBM Model M or DAS keyboard. Older Apple keyboards were good too, but probably hard to find. I'm glad I don't have to use a compact keyboard because I really don't like the laptop layouts for screen readers, and I find that for large hands the smaller keys give me a bit of trouble. But by far the biggest annoyance with the compact keyboards is missing keys. The right control often gets left out which makes cut-and-paste awkward if you're trying to touch type qwerty. And often the FN key is where the left control should be and so I'm forever hitting that by mistake. I think the newer logitech ones are also decent, but I'd have to check the layout. The girlfriend has one that's pretty small, and it seemed to have large keycaps. It was a bit squishy, but not as squishy as the low profile ones. I believe it has both control and shift and alt keys as well. Whatever you do, buy one from Amazon or some place with a decent return policy, so you can beat the hell out of it for a few days and take it back if you don't like it. I think anything advertised as a gaming keyboard would also be a good option, as often those have better key switches. I hope you find a good one though, as I haven't seen a good keyboard in a while, so I'm glad I have this one.
TheBlindBookLover 1 points 4y ago
Hi. I don’t know if this is helpful, but have you tried using ergonomic keyboards? There are some well received low cost options on amazon. I will link them in another comment.
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