- From: Jan Richards <jan.richards@utoronto.ca>
- Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:03:19 -0400
- To: WAI-UA list <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
Following from today's call...here is an update to the "Keyboard Commands" idea from last week (http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/2008JanMar/0078.html): ============================================= *KEYBOARD OPERATION* The functions provided to operate a user interface using only *keyboard commands*, without any need for pointer actions. Examples include: sequential keyboard navigation through a GUI, keyboard shortcuts, and command line interfaces. ============================================= *KEYBOARD COMMANDS* The set of signals that a user interface will accept from a keyboard or keyboard emulator in a given context (e.g., with focus in a document vs. with focus in the menus). Signals may be composed of one keyboard event (e.g., the "Tab" key") or multiple keyboard events that occur either simultaneously (e.g., "ctrl"+"S") or sequentially (e.g. "alt","F","S"). For the purposes of UAAG 2.0, several types of keyboard commands are identified: (a) *Sequential Commands* are those that are not tied to any particular UI controls or application functions, but rather support traversal of sets of controls (e.g., repeating "Tab" to move between all active controls, "arrow" keys to move focus through items in a list). Sequential commands help users explore what is available. (b) *Direct Commands* (also called "keyboard shortcuts" or "accelerator keys") are those tied to particular UI controls or application functions, allowing the user to navigate-to or activate them without traversing any intervening controls (e.g., "ctrl"+"S" to save a document). It is sometimes useful to distinguish direct commands that are associated with controls that are rendered in the current context (e.g., "alt"+"D" to move focus to the address bar) from those that may be able to activate program functionality that is not associated with any currently rendered controls (e.g., "F1" to open the Help system). Direct commands help users accelerate their selections. (c) *Spatial Commands* are those in which the keyboard is used to control the position of controls in space (e.g., using the arrow keys to move a mouse pointer by set numbers of pixels). ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: Spatial commands do not typically enhance exploration or acceleration of selection of selection and should not be considered an alternative to direct or sequential commands. ============================================= Cheers, Jan
Received on Thursday, 3 April 2008 22:02:36 UTC