4 ms·

I am curious, do very many people here browse the web using only their keyboard? I like the idea, but the keyboard-only navigation is going to be bottlenecked

I am curious, do very many people here browse the web using only their keyboard? I like the idea, but the keyboard-only navigation is going to be bottlenecked by the actual web page.

carsonbaker 17y ago
I use it and it works much better than a mouse. Vimperator uses "hints" to let you navigate page links with the keyboard. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode
- shiranaihito 17y ago
  Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate? Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation? Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Is it really faster than using a mouse? Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?
  - visitor4rmindia 17y ago
    >Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Opera has an excellent way to select links using spatial navigation (shift+down,+up,+left,+right). It's remarkably easy to navigate to any link quickly on the page. Also http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/nomouse/ http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/nomouse/ is a good place to start "keyboard-only" browsing.
  - uggedal 17y ago
    With Vimperator you press <f> to annotate all links on the page with a number. Then you type a number to open the link associated with that number. If you type <F> (capital), the number you type afterward will be opened in a new tab.
  - geoka 17y ago
    I use conkeror--which is a vimperator "clone" based on xulrunner, with emacs-like keybindings and commands. "Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?" It depends. Most of the time it's still a link, so the browser has no problem identifying and highlighting it as such. If it's something fancy (image map? JS magic?)--it can be a problem. Fortunately, such sites are not common. "Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them?" You press 'f' (for "follow") and a number appears next to each link. Then you enter a number to follow a link. "Is it really faster than using a mouse?" It depends. For example, there are whole WM environments which are designed to work without mouse (ratpoison, stumpwm, xmonad, etc.). Naturally, a keyboard-driven browser lends itself beautifully to such environments. Other than that, I find it annoying having to move my hand from the keyboard each time I need to look something up with a browser. Of course, when I just surf the web, the mouse is usually more convenient. "Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?" Since conkeror is modeled after emacs, I'd say yes (unless you happen to be using a custom keyboard layout or something). As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing).
    - shiranaihito 17y ago
      As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing) Besides plain, what other kind of surfing is there? Or are you talking about the differences between using those keyboard-only WMs and normal ones? As far as I know, using only the keyboard for some task is usually about efficiency gains, but in the case of surfing, I'm obviously not sure there's much to be gained, compared to mouse gestures. On the other hand, if using only the keyboard is some kind of personal preference, that may leave something to be desired in other areas too.. Such as, a mouse :p
      - rtra 17y ago
        Some of us can't use the mouse for health reasons.
nfg 17y ago
The Hit a Hint ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1341 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1341 ) Firefox extension works very nicely for this. Pretty similar to the vimperator functionailty mentioned in the other reply.
visitor4rmindia 17y ago
I do. I actually use (lynx+vim) for most browsing, and Opera (which has good keyboard bindings) when I want to post something (like now). It's not that I have anything against the mouse but I enjoy the workflow and it works very well for me. Plus I don't have to worry about adverts or drive-by infections most of the time :-)
mikeliu 17y ago
sure. what do people use on a non-touchscreen phone?
- seabee 17y ago
  Browsing the web on a non-touchscreen phone that doesn't also have (e.g.) a trackball is not a fun experience.

I am curious, do very many people here browse the web using only their keyboard? I like the idea, but the keyboard-only navigation is going to be bottlenecked by the actual web page.

carsonbaker 17y ago

I use it and it works much better than a mouse. Vimperator uses "hints" to let you navigate page links with the keyboard. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode

shiranaihito 17y ago
Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate? Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation? Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Is it really faster than using a mouse? Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?
- visitor4rmindia 17y ago
  >Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Opera has an excellent way to select links using spatial navigation (shift+down,+up,+left,+right). It's remarkably easy to navigate to any link quickly on the page. Also http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/nomouse/ http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/nomouse/ is a good place to start "keyboard-only" browsing.
- uggedal 17y ago
  With Vimperator you press <f> to annotate all links on the page with a number. Then you type a number to open the link associated with that number. If you type <F> (capital), the number you type afterward will be opened in a new tab.
- geoka 17y ago
  I use conkeror--which is a vimperator "clone" based on xulrunner, with emacs-like keybindings and commands. "Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?" It depends. Most of the time it's still a link, so the browser has no problem identifying and highlighting it as such. If it's something fancy (image map? JS magic?)--it can be a problem. Fortunately, such sites are not common. "Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them?" You press 'f' (for "follow") and a number appears next to each link. Then you enter a number to follow a link. "Is it really faster than using a mouse?" It depends. For example, there are whole WM environments which are designed to work without mouse (ratpoison, stumpwm, xmonad, etc.). Naturally, a keyboard-driven browser lends itself beautifully to such environments. Other than that, I find it annoying having to move my hand from the keyboard each time I need to look something up with a browser. Of course, when I just surf the web, the mouse is usually more convenient. "Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?" Since conkeror is modeled after emacs, I'd say yes (unless you happen to be using a custom keyboard layout or something). As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing).
  - shiranaihito 17y ago
    As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing) Besides plain, what other kind of surfing is there? Or are you talking about the differences between using those keyboard-only WMs and normal ones? As far as I know, using only the keyboard for some task is usually about efficiency gains, but in the case of surfing, I'm obviously not sure there's much to be gained, compared to mouse gestures. On the other hand, if using only the keyboard is some kind of personal preference, that may leave something to be desired in other areas too.. Such as, a mouse :p
    - rtra 17y ago
      Some of us can't use the mouse for health reasons.

nfg 17y ago

The Hit a Hint ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1341 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1341 ) Firefox extension works very nicely for this. Pretty similar to the vimperator functionailty mentioned in the other reply.

visitor4rmindia 17y ago

I do. I actually use (lynx+vim) for most browsing, and Opera (which has good keyboard bindings) when I want to post something (like now). It's not that I have anything against the mouse but I enjoy the workflow and it works very well for me. Plus I don't have to worry about adverts or drive-by infections most of the time :-)

mikeliu 17y ago

sure. what do people use on a non-touchscreen phone?

seabee 17y ago
Browsing the web on a non-touchscreen phone that doesn't also have (e.g.) a trackball is not a fun experience.