1. posterid:21621
  2. Is it possible to drag-and-drop with NVDA and the keyboard

Re: Is it possible to drag-and-drop with NVDA and the keyboard

David Goldfield
 

Brian wrote:

The actual need for drag and drop (as opposed to it being an option) seems to be fading out somewhat,

 

I agree. The only situation where I actually had to use drag and drop was with Thunderbird when I wanted to change the order of columns in a mailbox folder. At that time Thunderbird had no method for doing this using the keyboard. I haven’t used Thunderbird in quite some time on a regular basis and so this may have been addressed. Anyway, I used NVDA’s drag and drop commands to do it. It took a great deal of concentration and I had to be very methodical in ensuring that I was carefully performing the correct sequence of commands to get the job done but get it done I did. This was before the very wonderful Mozilla Enhancements NVDA addon which eliminated the need to use drag and drop emulation.

 

 

 

David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

JAWS Certified, 2019

Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive emails regarding news and events in the blindness assistive technology field.

Email: tech-vi+subscribe@groups.io

 

www.DavidGoldfield.org

 

 

 

From: nvda@nvda.groups.io <nvda@nvda.groups.io> On Behalf Of Brian Vogel
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2021 3:59 PM
To: nvda@nvda.groups.io
Subject: Re: [nvda] Is it possible to drag-and-drop with NVDA and the keyboard

 

On Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 03:03 PM, Tim M wrote:

That is just one of the many working bugs both screen readers have, and either haven't gotten to or just won't fix.

-
The thing is, I can't necessarily even say it's a bug.   Drag and drop "via the sighted method" is a thing unto itself, where the thing that has focus and is being dragged moves in real time and keeps focus throughout the movement until one releases the left mouse button over the drop zone.  If you release that button elsewhere (anywhere that the thing cannot be dropped) it simply remains where it had been.

With a screen reader, you have to gain focus, select, and "left mouse lock" on the object - and these three things are easy - but then navigate to the drop zone without ever giving full focus to anything else, and that is very tricky indeed to do, as I've found out in many other contexts.  I have not been willing to play much with emulated drag and drop because I try, whenever possible, to avoid the use of drag and drop, particularly when it comes to a screen reader.

The actual need for drag and drop (as opposed to it being an option) seems to be fading out somewhat, which is great as far as accessibility goes.  I'd far rather cut and paste, or choose to upload using an upload dialog, or similar than drag and drop.  I even do this more frequently than actual drag and drop because I'm often selecting multiple, non-contiguous files and it's very, very easy after having done so to lose that selection if your mouse pointer is even the tiniest bit outside "the grab zone" for the collection of files.  I'd rather hit CTRL + X, get to where I need them to go, and hit CTRL + P.
 
--

Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H1, Build 19043  

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

         ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

 
Join nvda@nvda.groups.io to automatically receive all group messages.