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Re: Keyboard Users and What They Use

for

From: Steve Faulkner
Date: Jan 15, 2012 6:39AM

hi Birkir,

>To activate links a user may use space bar or the enter key

I know that for form controls it is a common interaction pattern to
activate a control with either the enter or space key

I am not aware of any browsers that support link activation using the
space key. Do you have any data?


regards

stevef

On 15 January 2012 08:52, Birkir R. Gunnarsson
< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Lisa
>
> To activate links a user may use space bar or the enter key (listen
> for both, 13 and 32 I believe the ascii values are).
> tab or arrow keys are used, arrow keys are popular, but there are
> different options as well (it always strikes me as odd when a link
> appears in tab order, but not when using arrow keys, ideally a page
> should b coded to make both catch all links),
> many users bring up a list of all the links on the page (jaws key f7,
> same in nvda), , other explore by headings, a popular Jaws navigation
> method is the "n" key, which moves focus to the first instance of a
> different element (I find myself using it a lot,out of habit I
> suppose).
> If I am expecting a form I use "f" for next form field, "e" for next
> edit field or similar.
> Once you get to know the page you may insert custom bookmarks or look
> for specific signs, in GMail basic interface I know to use "x" to jump
> to first check box (next to first message) that way one key gets me
> straight to my messages.
> I am in favor of AccessKeys, if there is a link users are likely to
> use frequently, but is not accessible with other elements such as
> headings, say the "log in" link is in the middle of a list of links
> (though it begs the question whether the page layout could not be more
> eficient).
> I tell people to keep the most commonly used material towards the top
> of the page, novice users ere towards just using the arrow key to
> navigate, and if the main content is 80 lines down, they may give up
> before finding it.
> Similarly, avoid overly large tables. Many users navigate tables with
> the arrow down key, reading columngs left to right top to bottom, many
> users are not aware of keys like shift-dot  (less than) in Jaws, that
> jumps to the end of current element, or table navigation modes that
> make exploring tables faster.
>
> There are many factors however, and we must put a certain faith in the
> user being able to learn basic navigation features of his/her
> assistive technology.
>
>
> On 1/15/12, Rakesh < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> Hi Lisa,
>>
>> On 15-01-2012 02:44, LSnider wrote:
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>
>>> For those who use keyboard only navigation, the tab key is most used from
>>> what I have read. Do you use arrow keys a lot? If so, when do you use
>>> them?
>>> I am a screen reader user so I use only keyboard. Generally I don't use
>>> tab key. I use arrow keys espicially down arrow key (In any given web page
>>> I press "cntrl + home to go to the top of the page and press down arrow to
>>> move to various elements of the page). To activate any link or form
>>> element i use space bar.
>>> When you tab to a link you want to go to, for example a hidden skip to
>>> navigation link, do you press enter or some other key? I just wanted to
>>> confirm that this is the only way to activate this link...
>>>
>>> I am a mouse user, so I only play with keyboard navigation and wondered if
>>> I was missing some tricks of the trade!
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Lisa
>> HTH
>> Regards
>> Rakesh
>>
>>>