RE: ACCESSKEY attribute

At 01:47 PM 16/02/98 -0600, Jon Gunderson wrote:
>Thanks for the information on ACCESSKEY.  But isn't the browser
>implementation kind of a big deal.  If I put a statement like "Press S to
>submit the form", the user has to press more than S in most browsers.

I think the only way to use ACCESSKEY as an author is to avoid mentioning
the mechanics of how to use it.  Saying "Press S to submit the form" is
like saying "Click _here_ to hear me sing".  In both cases you're depending
on certain user hardware--a keyboard in the first case and a mouse in the
second.  You're also depending on browser support that is by no means
universal.  (I don't know of a browser that supports ACCESSKEY yet.)

Since "Click here" is often shunned for its lack of accessibility to
non-mouse users (in addition to its other problems), mention of the
mechanics of ACCESSKEY should also be avoided by authors.  Each browser
should adopt its own method of expressing the availability of the ACCESSKEY
to the user.

--
Liam Quinn
Web Design Group            Enhanced Designs, Web Site Development
http://www.htmlhelp.com/    http://enhanced-designs.com/

Received on Monday, 16 February 1998 19:34:29 UTC