RE: About accesskey

| I would like what criterion you use for the choice the accesskey.
|
| Is it important to avoid the accesskey coincide with the browser's
accesskeys?

Yes, it is important to avoid conflicts with the browser's shortcut
keys. If there are conflicts, anybody who uses keyboard only
techniques to access menus -- including people who are blind, have low
vision, or certain mobility impairments -- will get very frustrated!
In general, you can choose as accesskeys any letter or number that is
NOT used by any of the major graphic-based browsers. For example, you
should avoid Alt +F, E, H because these keystroke combinations are
almost universally used for File, Edit, and Help respectively. If you
check all of the recent versions of all of the major browsers, you may
find that the set of available accesskeys is quite small.

There may be an additional complication that can arise from using
accesskeys. However, this is pure speculation; I don't know for
certain. Certain access applications may use Alt key combinations that
could conflict with accesskeys. I can't think of any such programs off
the top of my head, but perhaps other readers on this list may know of
screen readers or text enhancers or other assistive technologies that
appropriate unusual Alt key combinations to perform particular tasks.
(My guess is that a few Windows-based assistive technologies would use
the Alt key as a modifier.)

Alan

Alan Cantor
Cantor + Associates
Workplace Accommodation Consultants
acantor@interlog.com
www.interlog.com/~acantor

Received on Thursday, 9 December 1999 23:07:31 UTC