In my experience the Mac Finder (parallel to Explorer but without web connections) is grumpily visually oriented. As I was typing this comment, my trackpad fell apart. While I know lots of keyboard shortcuts, I can't navigate the interface entirely with the keyboard, so I am gonna bow out until my fuckin' machine gets fixed.

You might want to check out Pathfinder, at this website. It's a single-window, keyboard-oriented alternative to Finder. It also offers tons of power user features, and I don't know how well it hides them. On the other hand, access to the Unix command line might actually be helpful in terms of file manipulations.

Here's a roundup of Finder alternatives — end users are sighted; I hope there's a Blind-Mac-Group to advise you as well.