For Windows Users:
If you are on Windows,you will need to grab Osara Once downloaded along with Reaper and the SWS Extension, you will want to install the latter two , before then installing Osara. While i will try to list Osara HotKeys where available, you should highly consider joining the RWP mailing list. You may get quicker answers to Osara Specific Questions there as I am predominantly a Mac user. Also to follow along with some of the work flows outlined throughout this site, you may need to add your own HotKeys to the KeyMap. The even newer kid on the block, though it appears to be built off the legacy of ReaAccess (the original Reaper access plug-in that appears to now be abandoned), is ReaEar. Can’t say anything more about that one other than what’s on their site. Discussions on all these can be found on the aforementioned RWP Mailing list.
For Mac Users:
Once You have Voice Over up and running, you will need to install Reaper, the SWS Extension and your choice of the Keyboard Ninja KeyMap or the ReaperAccess Plug-IN. The ReaperAccess plug in is developed by Victor Tsaran of JSonar fame. While development on it has halted and Osara should be getting aMac port at some point, what few features it has can still be useful. This plug in, solves the issue of The track list being clunky and tedious to navigate especially in projects with large track counts. It also allows for some spoken feedback of what command was just executed in addition to speaking meters (cmd+ctrl+J or K) and track numbers/name as you navigate through the track list with just up and down arrows. For more on how to install the plug in see the Getting Started page. However as ReaperAccess was in its earliest days of development before being halted, I have found some confusions with track selection if trying to switch between using it to select tracks and ReaConsole. If you are a heavy ReaConsole user then you may want to forgo the spoken feedback and etc of the plug in and just use the Keyboard Ninja KeyMap on its own. ReaperAccess uses the Keyboard Ninja KeyMap, so if you start out using it and become a heavy ReaConsole user, you can always remove the plug in without having to learn new keyboard shortcuts. Lastly while not Mac Centric you can also benefit from being a member of the RWP Mailing List.
A Note on Keyboard Navigation
In dialogs like the actions list, tab would usually move you forward between buttons and fields, and SHIFT+TAB moves you backwards. On the mac, CMD+TAB will cycle between all open applications, and CMD+` will cycle you through all open windows within an application. So for example if in Reaper you have an FX browser window open and the actions list in addition to the main Reaper window, you can cycle between all these windows using CMD+`. On windows ALT+Tab will cycle you through all open windows period. You don’t have an option just to cycle through windows within a certain app.
If you are a VoiceOver user on the mac, VO+Left/Right Arrows can be use for most of the instructions that say navigate or move to in these guides. VO+Space or Return can be used to Activate a button. Also you may need to interact with certain elements at times like the actions list area that list all the actions.
VoiceOver users will have to use an actual mouse as the VO+Shift+M keyboard shortcut for right click HotKey will not work anywhere in reaper. If using a one button mouse or a track pad you can right click by holding the control key while clicking the mouse.
For Windows users or non screen reader users on Win/Mac, the “TAB” key is probably your best bet for use when the guides say to move to or navigate to. Also on Windows F6 can be used as well. Windows screen reader users will also be fimiliar enough to try the down arrow when all else fails. And always, the “Enter” or “Space” key will activate a button usually.
In Reaper escape will close any floating windows or unselect selections. For example if you are done with a FX Browser window a simple press of the escape key will close it. If you have Items selected and in focus a simple press of the escape key will unselect.