Educators are expected to be up-to-speed on all types of technology; additionally, TVIs need to know mainstream technology and assistive technology. Most TVIs are itinerant and often cover schools that have chosen different types of devices. When our district purchased Macs for all the high school students, teachers who were used to PCs had to quickly learn all about Apple computers and the Mac symbols.
When using a keyboard shortcut (which typically is a combination of keys), you press a “modifier key”. Modifier keys include: Control, Option, Command, Shift, Caps Lock and Function keys. A modifier key in combination with another key creates a new command.
| ⌘ | Command |
| ⌥ | Option |
| ⌫ | Delete |
| ⇧ | Shift |
| ^ | Control |
Want to learn these mainstream shortcut commands? The shortcut commands can be found in the dropdown menus. Click on a tab in the Ribbon (Tool bar) at the top of the page. Beside each available action is the shortcut key command. Example: When on the Mac’s Home screen, click on the File tab. The dropdown menu provides options such as New Finder Window, New Folder, etc. Beside each option is the shortcut keyboard command. 
Many of the mainstream shortcut commands are the same commands that VoiceOver uses. When running VoiceOver, be sure to listen to all of the VoiceOver hints, as VoiceOver will announce the VoiceOver shortcut commands at the appropriate time.
For more information and a list of shortcut commands to to Apple’s keyboard shortcuts page. The shortcuts are organized by:
- Cut, copy, paste, and other common shortcuts
- Sleep, log out, an dshut down shortcuts
- Finder and system shortcuts
- Document shortcuts
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Other shortcuts
- Accessibility shortcuts
- Safari shortcuts
- Spotlight shortcuts
- Startup shortcuts
- Apple Music shortcuts
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Learn more
- Emoji, accents and symbols
- Create your own shortcuts
- Change the behavior of athe function keys or modifier keys
- Use a spoken command for a keyboard shortcut
Here is a quick Apple video tutorial about Mac shortcuts:
For more information on the importance of teaching shortcut commands and Teaching Tips, go to Paths to Technology article, Keyboard Shortcuts Part 2: Students with Low Vision.
By Diane Brauner
