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Re: JavaScript library for display and customization of keyboard shortcuts?

for

From: _mallory
Date: Oct 30, 2015 3:56PM


On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 01:59:34PM -0700, Jennifer Sutton wrote:
> On 10/30/2015 6:05 AM, Robert Fentress wrote:
> >How about two simple key commands to navigate to next/previous named
> >landmark regions, rather than specific, separate ones for every landmark?
>
> JS: How would non-screen reader users find out about these? And why
> would screen reader users need them since all screen readers I know
> of have a way to navigate from landmark to landmark, regardless of
> name?

They wouldn't be for SR users. They'd be for everyone else. But then yes,
landmarks have to be made known, and only to those who care, in some
standard(ish) way.

> The overall question I have is what has changed in recent years that
> makes this a better idea than it *wasn't* before?

What has changed: more and more Big-Name sites have started implementing
their own keyboard shortcuts anyways. Not for SR users, but for
keyboarders (usually under the guise of "power users"). The "?" key
is not universal but it seems common to call up the list.

What has changed: it seems we now have more opportunity as web devs
to make more "semantic" structure in our larger overall page
structures, both with aria landmark roles and with new HTML5 elements
like aside, main, and nav.

> And should we even get started on how Nuance's Dragon Naturally
> Speaking hasn't exposed ARIA much at all, thereby leaving out a lot
> of value for many?

At least some ARIA should, in my opinion, be exposed to everyone who
needs it. Navigation by landmark would be teh jawsome. Right now,
I can only do this either with an SR running, or I hear there's a
mystical Firefox extension. I believe navigation is core to browsing,
and therefore navigation beyond "tab" and "shift-tab" should be core
as well (vendors have argued against "more bloat" in their cores,
though lots of what they've got in there I'd consider bloat anyway :)

_mallory