Re: About accesskey

It is a goo idea to avoid browser controls if possible.

But it is not possible to know what the controls are on every browser, so to
implement accesskey properly a browser should ensure that an element with an
accesskey attribute can be accessed directly, and should have a way for the
user to know how to access that element.

For example, if an element has accesskey Q, one browser might make the q key
go to that element, another might mak it alt-q, and another might already use
those keys, so make it alt-3. In each case, only the browser knows what the
accesskey is, so it must tell the user.

As a more complex example, there is no key on my keyboard for the japanese
character "Kuchi" although that is a legitimate character for an
accesskey. So my browser will have to use a different key, and tell me how I
use that.

As another complex example, a mobile phone browser may take the items that
have an accesskey and make a separate "tabbing order" so I press the * key
and then tab through the things that have accesskeys. Again, the browser
knows what it will do, but the author doesn't.

Charles McCN

On Fri, 10 Dec 1999, Ricardo Sanchez wrote:

  Hello.
  
  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?
  
  Thank in advance.
  
  Ricardo
  

--Charles McCathieNevile    mailto:charles@w3.org  phone: +61 409 134 136
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative                    http://www.w3.org/WAI
21 Mitchell Street, Footscray, VIC 3011,  Australia (I've moved!)

Received on Friday, 10 December 1999 06:57:52 UTC