Keyboard Command Wish List [was Can't see selection highlights] (fwd)

This comes from a discussion that is taking place on the Interest group list.
the thread is probably good user input (and I have to clean up the stuff from
blinux to send to this list..)

charles

--Charles McCathieNevile            mailto:charles@w3.org
phone: +1 617 258 0992   http://www.w3.org/People/Charles
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative    http://www.w3.org/WAI
MIT/LCS  -  545 Technology sq., Cambridge MA, 02139,  USA

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 11:59:26 -0400
From: Leonard R. Kasday <kasday@ACM.org>
To: Steve Donie <sdonie@zycor.lgc.com>
Cc: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Keyboard Command Wish List [was Can't see selection highlights]
Resent-Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 11:58:16 -0400 (EDT)
Resent-From: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org

I changed the subject line because this discussion is getting into keyboard
command features, in addition to the need for a visible selection highlight
(also knows as the "keyboard focus indicator).

0. One feature that was already mentioned was to automatically moving the
focus to the top link in the current window.

The following would also be very useful.

1. To be able to use the find command to jump to a link instead of tabbing
there.  It would save a lot of keystrokes, especially if you program the
keystrokes as macros. But this requires that focus moves to the location
that find highlights.

2. Ability to use find command to jump to text in buttons.

3. Ability to use find command to jump to image by searching on its ALT text.

Lynx does all this...and it's likely that any other browser that renders in
text will do it also, e.g. emacspeak/w3, pwwebspeak, home page reader,
netamer, braillesurf... though I haven't tested them for all the above...

But I need a graphical browser because our students see fine, they just
move slowly. Also, they need it in garden variety public web stations... in
our computer lab, libraries, etc.  

I don't get these features with NN4, IE4, or Opera 3.6.  Are they available
in any other graphical browsers (e.g. IE5)? Hmmm.  Or in Netscape when
linked to home page reader?  

Len

P.s.

Our students are using Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) devices
for communicating via synthetic speech, and also for sending keystrokes to
the PC.  They could easily add macros for common link destinations on pages
they frequently use, e.g. web-based email.  So the above features would be
great for them.

At 09:19 AM 7/23/99 -0500, you wrote:
>I just tried this page [http://www.pratt.lib.md.us/databases/] with IE5, and
>it does handle this case as you would hope. I tabbed until I got to the ToC
>"Health and Medicine" link, hit enter (which scroled me down the page to
>that section) and then hit tab again - and landed on the first link in the
>Health and Medicine Section.
>
>Cool.
>
>
>
-------
Leonard R. Kasday, Ph.D.
Universal Design Engineer, Institute on Disabilities/UAP, and
Adjunct Professor, Electrical Engineering
Temple University

Ritter Hall Annex, Room 423, Philadelphia, PA 19122
kasday@acm.org        
(215} 204-2247 (voice)
(800) 750-7428 (TTY)

Received on Friday, 23 July 1999 12:01:11 UTC