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Re: Web Site Access Keys

for

From: Ryan Hemphill
Date: Nov 1, 2011 7:48AM

While it would probably be a good idea to become well versed in the options
that would not conflict with browsers, screen readers and operating
systems, there is a definite benefit when web sites pass into the realm of
web applications.

Inability to leverage the arrow keys would make more complex widgets
extremely messy, if not completely unusable. I know this from personal
experience. I also see the trend of sites moving to a more 'modal'
principle, which could make key assignment *very* important.

That being said, if you have a site that is simple, normal page format, key
assignments really don't serve a strong purpose. They are, as I like to
say, tapping in a finishing nail with a sledgehammer. You can probably get
away with links to those regions listed at the top of the page and provide
links that will take you to that spot.

I personally don't bother with access keys concept at all. I see them as a
nice-to-have, but not strategically necessary in any of my work.

Ryan


On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 2:10 AM, Jukka K. Korpela < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> 1.11.2011 5:02, Jan Heck wrote:
>
> > I ran across this statement on a Web site for an independent living
> agency:
>
> The site appears to be http://www.threeriversinc.org and it has a link
> to the Accessibility Statement near the start of the main page (and
> other pages).
>
> > The assigned access keys for this website may override your
> > browser¹s reserved keystrokes. To use your browser¹s built-in shortcut
> > keystrokes, press the Alt key (do not hold) and then a normal key.
>
> At least they have recognized the problem. But there is no guarantee
> that a user who finds his normal shortcuts have strange effects will
> navigate to the Accessibility Statement
>
> > Is it EVER a good idea to assign access keys that override the browser's
> > reserved access keys?
>
> As any access key assignment may conflict with some reserved access
> keys, this boils down to the question whether it is ever a good idea to
> assign access keys.
>
> Although access key assignments are mostly bad for accessibility, they
> might have some uses _despite_ the accessibility problems. I'm mainly
> thinking of their use for specialized applications where the assignments
> are used to create keyboard controls for operations. But even this is
> questionable except perhaps in a technically homogenous environment
> (everyone using the same version of the same browser, etc.) where
> everyone knows how to use access keys.
>
> --
> Yucca
>
>
>