I tried using my computer without mouse

The combination of computer work, drumming and DIY around the house has taken its toll on my right arm, particularly my wrist. I started to develop a mild case of RSI or tennis elbow, so I tried to prevent it from getting worse and take the strain off my right wrist.

This also gave me the chance to experience for myself what it’s like not to use a mouse, and I can tell you straight away that it’s no easy feat.

Operating a computer with the keyboard

I mainly work on a computer running macOS and the Alfred programme. Fortunately, I also know a few keyboard shortcuts for this off by heart. For example, you can use Option and Space to bring up the command screen and then type “Open Firefox” to open the Firefox web browser. That way, you can at least search the internet for how to actually operate the computer using the keyboard.

Keyboard shortcuts

To operate your computer using only the keyboard, you’ll need to rely on keyboard shortcuts. Some important keyboard shortcuts are:

• Tab to navigate to interactive elements.
• Shift + Tab to navigate to interactive elements in the opposite direction.
• Enter or Space to open/launch applications or other elements.
• fn + ctrl + F2: move the keyboard focus to the MacOS menu bar.

On your macOS computer (MacBook or iMac), you’ll first need to change some settings in System Preferences. Fortunately, I’ve already done this, as it was necessary for carrying out accessibility audits:

• Enable Keyboard Access. You can also do this using the keyboard shortcut fn + ctrl + F1.
• Tick the box for ‘Move focus between controls using keyboard navigation’ (or similar wording).
• You can also enable extended keyboard control, which means you apparently no longer need a mouse or trackpad at all. I really did have to get used to this.

Starting to use keyboard commands instead of mouse movements isn’t easy. You need to build up experience and gradually learn more and more key combinations. The more you do this and experiment, the better you’ll get at it. Eventually, you’ll even find that keyboard control is often easier and quicker than using your mouse.

However, I did keep running into problems, particularly in apps that weren’t designed for keyboard control. In a well-known note-taking app, I couldn’t navigate outside the current note to, for example, create a new note or open an existing one. In a to-do app, I could only move tasks on a Kanban board using drag-and-drop gestures. So there was no alternative method for keyboard users here, such as using the arrow keys. Nor could I create the image in this post – a cropped screenshot – without using the trackpad on my laptop.

Using websites with the keyboard

So, can you actually browse without a mouse? This is more my ‘comfort zone’, as I regularly test websites for accessibility. Keyboard navigation is a key part of that. Given that I often come across issues with this during audits, I must admit I didn’t have particularly high expectations, but I was keen to be pleasantly surprised.

Ode to skip links

The first thing I noticed was that so-called skip links are absolutely brilliant. A skip link is a link you don’t normally see, but which becomes visible as soon as you press the Tab key once. On many sites, a link then appears in the top-left corner that takes you straight to the main content. This means you don’t have to navigate through the main menu on every page of the website first. That saves a huge amount of time and effort. It might even prevent a new form of RSI in my left wrist.

Complex interactions become genuinely complex

When a website consists of text, links and buttons, I can get quite far using just the keyboard. With the Tab key I can access links and buttons, with the Enter key I can activate links and with the spacebar I can press buttons. With the arrow keys I can scroll the page up and down.

However, when there are more complex interactions, things really do get complicated. Think of so-called accordions, where you only see more content once you click on a piece of text. I cannot make that content visible without using my mouse on nearly all websites. And yet it is not at all difficult to make them accessible to keyboard users as well.

I also cannot always operate some navigation menus and tabs using the keyboard. For these and other interactions, there are quite a few guides available on how to make them accessible. In my audits and recommendations, I often refer to the ARIA Authoring Practices Guide. That website provides very useful information for several patterns on what a user expects and what you need to do to make it usable for everyone.

Voice control and dictation

Using a keyboard is very handy, but it can still put strain on your wrists. Especially if you have to type a lot, for example when writing an article for your blog. One solution to this could be to enable voice control and dictation on your computer. This allows you to control your computer and write text using voice commands.

Fortunately, my physical symptoms weren’t too bad yet, but for some people, voice control and dictation are essential for getting anything done on the computer. I could explain why, but do take a look or listen to Salma Alam Naylor’s experiences. She developed severe pain in her hands, which meant she could barely type or use the mouse and trackpad anymore. This certainly made an impact on me. Watch her story “What if you suddenly couldn’t type anymore?” on YouTube or read her article How I learned to code with my voice.

Voice control and dictation are built in as standard on macOS. This is called Voice Control and you can enable it via the system settings. I must say that I tried this for a while, but found it quite difficult to use. It probably doesn’t help that I have a fairly soft voice and use several languages on my computer at the same time. Sometimes I felt like I was shouting at the computer and I often had to correct the text afterwards.

In my opinion, voice control therefore has a fairly steep learning curve and it takes a while to get the hang of it. Still, it’s nice that it’s an option. A prerequisite for voice control is that websites and apps are built well enough to be used with voice control software. For example, buttons and links must be ‘real’ links and buttons, and they must also have the visible text in their name.

As I don’t have much experience with voice control myself yet, I can’t offer any good tips just yet. There is plenty of information online about this, including handy instructional videos. As soon as I become more proficient at this, I’ll share more of my experiences with you.

Lessons learned

With the help of the right exercises and ergonomic aids, I have now managed to significantly reduce my symptoms and, fortunately, I can do everything again without pain in my wrist. However, I do remain vigilant and have learnt lasting lessons from the experiments above. By using the keyboard and voice control more often, you can not only work more efficiently but also prevent symptoms from arising. It’s also a good idea for developers to check whether your website and app can be used without a mouse. So why not give it a go yourself?

Featured image by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash.