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CurtB

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watchtv.cox.com shortcuts must be enabled to use

For the past week, each time a watchtv.cox.com channel is selected, Closed Captions (C) is the only player shortcut that can be used until the "Player Settings" gear icon is clicked twice to open and then close the settings window.  This enables all the other player shortcuts to be used until the current channel is closed.  Closed Captions is probably always enabled because it's set in Accessibility settings.

To eliminate variables, I launched the website through Cox webpages, cleared watchtv.cox.com cookies, closed the browser and went through Cox webpages to load the website again.  The same issue occurs when using either Chrome or Edge.  Cox said nobody else has reported this issue through social media, but a moderator replicated it with her own credentials.

Here is a comprehensive list of watchtv.cox.com player shortcuts:

? - Display Keyboard Controls                             S - Toggle SAP

P - Stop Playing                                                     V - Toggle Video Description

Up Arrow - Volume Up                                         L - Toggle Last Watched Panel

Down Arrow - Volume Down                              I - Toggle Video Info Panel

M - Mute Audio                                                    G - Toggle Language Menu 

Z - Mini Player Mode                                           O - Toggle Settings Menu

F - Full Screen                                                       X - Close Player

C - Toggle Closed Captions

Has anyone else experienced this issue?  Or, do most people just not use player shortcuts?

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CurtB

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The website was updated.  Now it only requires a single left-click anywhere on the screen to enable player shortcuts to work.  But it still requires using the mouse to enable keyboard shortcuts.  Does anyone else have this issue? 

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Bruce

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I have issues but not with this.

Does Shift + F10 enable shortcuts?

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CurtB

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No, but I tried that combination of keystrokes and a single left-click would be easier.  Thanks for the suggestion though.  It's just annoying to have to use a mouse to enable keyboard shortcuts, particularly when it worked perfectly up until a few weeks ago.    

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Bruce

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I cricketed because I don't watch TV online and had no things to contribute.  Although widermouthopen is an agitator, they appreciates and lauds solutions and tips from contributors.  (What a weirdo!)

Although I don't stream CATV, this is curious because it just started happening.

Are these single-key shortcuts or paired with, for example, the Ctrl or Alt key?

Any security add-ons?

What scripting instructs the shortcuts?  Is this service disabled by default in the OS?  Perhaps the double-click enables the service.

Perhaps you've discovered a personality trait of most people watching cable-TV online.  Perhaps they prefer to point and click/tap as opposed to memorizing shortcuts because some of those shortcuts are kinda unorthodox.  The "?"..."P" to stop (or maybe it's pause)..."G" for language..."O" settings?  Some make sense.  Is there a shortcut to enable shortcuts?

A gamer once told me "hard-core" gamers only use a keyboard (shortcuts).  Perhaps most people aren't hardcore and would freak after accidentally pressing the X-key.

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CurtB

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The shortcuts are single key.  My original post (see above) lists the shortcuts.  While a channel is playing, a "Player Settings" gear icon is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen.  Clicking that gear icon opens a window that includes "Player Shortcuts".  Clicking that displays a window that looks a lot like the shortcuts in my original post.

In my trials of trying to get this fixed, I've come to the same conclusion.  Most people must use a mouse instead of keyboard shortcuts.  But it's so much easier to just press "M" to toggle audio mute or press the up or down arrow to change volume than having to use the mouse.  How do people even mute the webpage with a mouse?  I guess they must mute the computer.  I prefer to mute the website and leave my computer un-muted.  It was a lot easier to navigate channels when all I had to do was press "X", arrow up or down to a different channel, and press Enter.  I could do all that with player shortcuts while leaning back in my chair.  It takes more effort to lean forward, grab the mouse and navigate around the screen.

The only player shortcuts I use on a regular basis are: Mute audio, Up arrow / Down arrow for volume control, Closed Captions, occasionally Full screen (I usually press F11) and eXit channel.  If there's some weird issue with a Spanish broadcast, a quick tap of the SAP key usually takes care of that.  It's not a lot to remember and there's always the "?" key to display player shortcuts.   

The same issue happens with Chrome and Edge.  My Chrome site settings are all set to default.  I have the same standard Chrome extensions that I had before the issue began.  Edge has no extensions and settings are unchanged since it was installed.

The issue is occurring because the webpage playing the channel is not the active page when a key is pressed to use a keyboard shortcut.  The single left-click makes the page active and all keyboard shortcuts will then work properly while playing the current channel.  When another channel or the same channel is selected again, the left-click is necessary to re-enable keyboard shortcuts.

My back-seat suggestion to Cox was to simply add code that replicates the OS code executed by a left-click, to the end of the routine that loads a channel.  It seems simple enough unless the folks in Atlanta don't know how to do it or just don't want to bother.

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CurtB

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Cox has never acknowledged that their first update deployed within the last month broke player shortcuts functionality in the website.  Their second update almost fixed the issue, but not quite.  The latest response is . . .

clicking within the player window "activates" the page so the keyboard shortcut keys function.

(That wasn't required in the original website design before their first update).

 Without first clicking on the page, the shortcut keys won't work.

(That's the same thing I reported to Cox after their last update repaired the need to double-click on the "Player Settings" gear icon that I originally reported to Cox after their first update). 

The determination is that the video player window is working as designed.

(It isn't working as it was designed before the first update broke player shortcuts functionality).  Tier 3 probably figured "Eh, close enough. We meant to do that".

Even if they actually did mean to deploy a website design that requires a mouse click in order to enable keyboard shortcuts, the need to click the gear icon to enable player shortcuts after the first update proves an update was deployed that didn't work as it was designed.  I'm not convinced they have the necessary skills and/or desire to properly fix the issue they created.  Whether the coding error originated from Cox or their vendor, it should have been more thoroughly tested by Cox before it was deployed.

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CurtB

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I've looked over the watchtv.cox.com website and didn't find any new features from the recent updates.  My revised recommendation would be for the Cox development group to go to their backups and restore the website to its last good version before they broke it a few weeks ago.  That  will require Cox to have made and retained periodic backups and have a test environment they can use to test a restored version. 

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