Keyboard, screen reader and touch in Video by Zaweba

Video editors are dense programs, full of small controls and panels, and many of them are hard work for anyone who does not use a mouse in the usual way. Video by Zaweba includes several features that make it easier to move round by keyboard, use with a screen reader, and control by touch.

Moving between panels with F6

Press F6 to move from one panel to the next. A focus outline shows which panel and which control are active, so you can see where your key presses will go. That matters in a program with a timeline, a preview, an Inspector and several other panels all on screen at once.

For keyboard users, F6 is the way to get around without reaching for the mouse. For everyone else, it is a handy habit: jumping straight to the timeline or the Inspector from the keyboard is often quicker than aiming for it.

Combine it with the keyboard shortcuts editor to put the commands you use most on keys that suit you, and with the command palette, which finds any command by typing.

Screen-reader names

Controls have names that screen readers announce. A button is read out by what it does rather than as an unlabelled control, which makes the panels navigable for people who rely on a screen reader. Editing video is visual work by nature, but much of a project, from importing and organising to export settings and sound levels, can be reached this way.

If you use a screen reader, start with the Essentials workspace, which keeps fewer panels on screen and so fewer places to move through.

Touch and pinch

On a touch screen, pinch to zoom the timeline and the preview. Zooming the timeline in to work on a single cut, then out to see the whole programme, is one of the most frequent actions in editing, and pinching makes it natural on a tablet or touch laptop.

Pinch on the preview to look closely at a part of the picture, for example to check focus or a detail in a graphic, then pinch back out.

Setting up for comfort

Workspaces help here too. Make one with larger panels for the parts you use most and fewer panels overall, so there is less to move through and controls are easier to reach. Floating panels can go on a second screen if that suits you better.

Give yourself time to learn the F6 order. Once you know the order the panels come round in, getting from the preview to the Inspector becomes a couple of key presses you no longer think about. The large timecode display under View is useful for anyone who finds the normal timecode small to read.

A tool for more people

Accessibility features often end up helping everyone. Keyboard panel switching speeds up experienced editors. Pinch zoom is quicker than hunting for a zoom slider. Clear control names make the app easier to learn and to talk about. They sit quietly inside Video by Zaweba, available to anyone who needs or simply prefers them.