I should add that I remember at least one person describing the problem in a
way that caused me to think it might be sticky keys and that’s why I started
experimenting.; I don’t want to take credit for an idea I saw from one or
more other people. I brought it up again because I didn’t think it got the
attention it should and because the limited about of experimenting I’ve
done, I have to wait until the problem occurs, has so far confirmed that
sticky keys are the problem.

Gene
-----Original Message-----

From: Gene
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 7:02 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: Re: [nvda] Shortcut commands stopping working in NVDA

I remember a bit of discussion of what you are describing before but I don’t
think it was sustained enough to catch the attention of the developers on
the list. I didn’t remember who, for the most part, had brought it up. I
suppose it should be filed as a ticket.

My impression from before is that the problem would be mentioned and one or
two messages would result and it would then not be mentioned again for a
good while. While I think this is a general problem, it may be that not
enough people complained of it that it was recognized as such. I think that
almost no one spoke of it as a sticky key problem before, which may have
made the problem not properly replicable by developers.

Gene
-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah k Alawami
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 6:36 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: Re: [nvda] Shortcut commands stopping working in NVDA

Yeah, I already said that a few months ago. I in fact go control left right,
alt left right, windows, windows, shift left, right, tab when I know a key
is stuck. This is not anything new, now we need to figure out why this
happens.



From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 3:54 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: [nvda] Shortcut commands stopping working in NVDA



Occasionally, a problem where NVDA shortcut commands such as read title bar,
open menus, etc. stop working has been discussed here. I may have found out
what is actually going on and it may either eliminate or almost fully
eliminate the need to unload, then run NVDA again.



It appears to me that a key is getting stuck. When this happens, try
pressing the left shift key, then the right shift key quickly perhaps five
or six times each. Then see if the commands work again.



Caution: It used to be and probably still is the default that if you press
either shift something like five times, it will turn on something. I don’t
recall if it is some sort of sounds Windows will make when certain keys are
pressed or sticky keys. At any rate, if you haven’t turned off this
behavior, don’t press the shift five times. Try three or four.



I’ve just been trying this recently. I don’t have this happen enough to see
if the same key, for example, one of the shift keys, or another key, such as
either control, either alt, or the NVDA key, gets stuck in new occurrences
or if the same key gets stuck and no others. Experimentation by people will
answer that question.



If it turns out to be keys getting stuck, that may lead to a solution.



Gene