NVDA Community Addons/ addons/ Direct Link  (0%)

Direct Link

  • Author: Fawaz Abdul Rahman
  • Version: 1.0
  • NVDA compatibility: 2019.3 and beyond
  • Download stable version

Functionality

The purpose of the addon is to convert the Dropbox, Google Drive or oneDrive (both personal and business) links to a direct link, furthermore, it generates a direct link to a WhatsApp chat with the chosen selected phone number.

Usage

  • Select or copy a shared Dropbox, Google Drive or oneDrive link
  • Press alt+NVDA+l to convert the link. The resulting URL will be in your clipboard.
  • Similarly for the phone number, copy or select the number you like to chat with or share and press the same shortcut (alt+NVDA+L).
  • if you like to open the resulted link in your browser, press alt+NVDA+shift+l.

Why the direct link?

A direct link will allow you to get the well-known save dialog box directly if you open it in the browser, without being hassled by the hosting company download page and locating the download link. Moreover, the direct link can be used to stream a file or view a file in certain programs such as media players (if coming with URL support). Likewise, if WhatsApp is common in your country, rather than creating a new contact each time if you need to chat with someone, weather it is a customer or technical support, you can simply select the number or copy it and start chatting right away. Even more, you can share the WhatsApp link of your own number if people usually need to contact you in case you work as a freelancer.

Notes

  • A link of a folder cannot be converted; the link has to be directing to a file.
  • Make sure the link you are sharing is public (anyone with the link can access) in order for it to be successfully converted.
  • You can change the hotkeys from the NVDA menu> preferences> input gestures.
  • If you find a certain format of a phone number that is not detected, you can email me with an example.
  • Certain type of files and sizes in Google Drive might take you to a page that says "Google Drive can't scan this file for viruses." in that case, you have to click on download anyway link.

Acknowledgements

A huge thanks goes to the following friends, without them I couldn't have made it happen:

  • Qais Alrefai for testing the add-on and providing me with various material to test with, and also for his observations and general idea for the addon.
  • Marina Amir for translating the add-on to French, language editing and testing.
  • Riad Assoum for translating the add-on to Arabic.
  • all testers.