RE: Accesskey: there are "techniques"?

On first glance, this proposal seems fraught with problems.  One that I can
think up off the top of my head would be Far Eastern languages, that often
use numbers for menu access keys.

But, just for a quick suggestion - avoid the use of the term "home page"
when referring to the top-most, or main page of a web site.  The "home page"
term is overloaded and has different meanings to developers and users.

To a user, the home page is the page that loads when the browser is launched
(if no other page is specified).

To a web developer, the home page is the entry point, main page, or top-most
page of a particular web site.

This would be extra confusing to keyboard users when ALT+HOME is the
keyboard shortcut for the browsers home page.

The real problem with ACCESSKEY, like all keyboard shortcuts and
accelerators, is its discoverability.  The user agents can and should do
more to make ACCESSKEY enabled elements easier to discover.  Currently, some
accessibility aids do this, but in my experience has been limited to
blindness-aids, and thus not available to non-visually impaired keyboard
users.

Another consideration is the likelihood of developers using the scheme.
HTML has, since version 2.0 made the LINK element available for the express
purpose of allowing user agents to use the information to provide additional
navigation options.  How many developers current use the link types
available as part of the LINK element.  For example, does any web site use
the following markup examples:

<link rel="start" href="www.microsoft.com">
<link rel="help" href="help.html">

Rather than having another scheme for all web developers to implement, a
recommendation be made to authors to use the existing (and very complete)
methods available.  At the same time, user agents can implement the
functionality in accordance to their user interface.

-Charles
-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf
Of Roberto Scano - IWA/HWG
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 12:26 PM
To: WCAG List
Subject: Accesskey: there are "techniques"?


Hi,
in the italian webaccessibile discussion list
(http://itlists.org/mailman/listinfo/webaccessibile) web developers are
discussing about a proposal of a "standardization" for the access key.

Most of them agree that is best to use number instead of letters,
starting from zero.

There are some techniques about a "map" for the accesskey?

eg:

0 - Home Page
1 - Access Key page
2 - Site Map
3 - Contact e-Mail ...

At the page:

http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/accesskey.html#assign

there is another example that is the same definition used by the U.K.
Guidelines for accesskey in public web sites.

So... what suggest the WCAG Working Group?

Received on Thursday, 25 September 2003 16:30:06 UTC