RE: Skip link activates with Space but not Enter (JAWS + Chrome)

“By default, in web browsers, the Enter key is used to activate a link”

 

By default, both NVDA and JAWS intercept keystrokes and send a click event when the SPACEBAR is pressed and not keydown, keypress, or keyup.

 

Dragon Naturally Speaking also sends a click event when using the ‘click’ command or mouse grid etc. 

 

And so do switch devices such as sip and puff.

 

 

The ‘functionality’ clause of 2.1.1 is an anachronism which will hopefully not be carried over into WCAG 3.0.

 

 

 

 

From: Steven Mouret <steven.mouret@gmail.com> 
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2026 10:29 PM
To: Dallas Matamoros <dallasmatamoros@gmail.com>
Cc: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: Skip link activates with Space but not Enter (JAWS + Chrome)

 

Hello,


This complies with success criterion 2.1.1. WCAG is not interested in the correct use of keyboard interactions. Only that it is possible to use the keyboard. And it seems that this is the case for you.
By default, in web browsers, the Enter key is used to activate a link. But if the space bar alone can do this, then it will be compliant.
This is detrimental to screen reader users, especially since some screen readers, such as Jaws and VoiceOver, can specify which key to activate depending on the nature of the interactive element. And in your case, the recommended key will not be functional.


--
Steven Mouret

 

 

Le jeu. 5 mars 2026 à 11:15, Dallas Matamoros <dallasmatamoros@gmail.com <mailto:dallasmatamoros@gmail.com> > a écrit :

Hello, 

I encountered a skip-to-main-content link that JAWS announces as
“visited same page link”, but it does not activate with Enter. 
It does work with the Space bar. 

The markup is a standard in-page link: 
<a href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a> 

The site is built in Drupal, so I suspect a scripted event is
cancelling the default behavior. 

Would this be considered a failure of SC 2.1.1, even though the link is focusable? I also experience similar problems with skip to main content links on other web pages as well. Can you explain what is most likely causing many web developers to make skip to main content links not work correctly?

Tested with: 
JAWS 2026
Chrome 
Windows 11

Thank you,

 

 

Dallas Matamoros, CPACC

(985) 400-0118

dallasmatamoros@gmail.com <mailto:dallasmatamoros@gmail.com> 

 

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