RE: Global Shortcut Keys and Screen Reader Accessibility?

Taliesin, possibly the following resources may help.

 

Computer Hope - Computer keyboard shortcut keys

https://www.computerhope.com/shortcut.htm

 

ShortcutWorld.com - An open, wiki-style Reference Database for Keyboard
Shortcuts.

http://shortcutworld.com

 

David

 

From: Taliesin Smith [mailto:talilief@gmail.com] 
Sent: April 15, 2020 09:37 AM
To: WAI IG
Subject: Global Shortcut Keys and Screen Reader Accessibility?

 

Hi Folks,

I am looking into the feasibility of global hotkey or Keyboard Shortcut that
would toggle a Pause/Play button in a simulated learning environment regardless
of where the keyboard focus is currently at in the application.

 

While the Pause/Play button interaction is somewhat akin to how a video player
works, it is not exactly the same kind of experience in our situation.

 

We are currently working on a science simulation called Molecules and Light
<https://phet-dev.colorado.edu/html/molecules-and-light/1.5.0-dev.44/phet/molecu
les-and-light_en_phet.htm>  (note to hear the interactive descriptions you need
to use a screen reader - VO & Safari, NVDA & FF or JAWS & Chrome). 

 

In this simulated environment a learner turns a light source to fire photons at
a molecule. The learner can change the light source and the molecule on the fly
and observe what happens. 

 

Learners can also Pause the action (the firing of photons) without turning the
light source off. When the action is paused, the learner can use a Step Forward
button to move the action (the photons) forward little by little to examine more
closely what happens when a photon passes through or is absorbed by the
molecule.

 

In interviews with blind learners, we found that learners were confused by the
Pause/Play and Step Forward buttons, especially when the light source had not
already been turned on. And if the simulation was set to Pause, they were often
temporarily confused why the light source button would no longer fire photons. 

 

We have made improvements to the descriptive experience by adding aria-live
alerts that indicate if the light source is off or if the sim is paused, and why
it might be useful to use the Step Forward button when the Pause button is
activated. We think these aria-live alerts will create a much more intuitive
experience (more user testing is pending).

 

That said, a few learners requested a global keyboard shortcut to quickly Pause
and Play the action no matter where their focus was. My question to the list is,
does any one have any experience or resources on making a global keyboard
shortcut that does not rely on focus and works when screen reader software is
enabled. I am assuming we would need to use a modifier key. Something like
Control + k or Alt + k.

 

This kind of Pause/Play and Step Forward interaction is used in many of our
interactive science simulations. A global hot key could be useful for all
learners whether they use screen readers or not.

 

Thanks in advance for any resources on accessible global keyboard shortcuts. I
have read this great medium article by Sasha Maximova, J, K, or How to choose
keyboard shortcuts for web applications
<https://medium.com/@sashika/j-k-or-how-to-choose-keyboard-shortcuts-for-web-app
lications-a7c3b7b408ee> , several times, and am looking for more resources.

 

Taliesin

~.~.~

Also available off list at: Taliesin.Smith@colorado.edu

Inclusive Design Researcher
PhET Interactive Simulations
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/accessibility
Physics Department
University of Colorado, Boulder