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Re: double click without mouse on web page

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From: Brendan McKeon
Date: Dec 23, 2012 10:36PM

Angela, the web page you reference below is about Mouse Keys, a feature
built into Windows (Mac has a similar feature) that allows very basic use of
mouse via keyboard. But it is tedious to use, and only considered a last
resort, used to access apps that do not have proper keyboard support.
Additionally, it is really only useful for sighted keyboard users, as the
user needs to be aware of where the mouse pointer is, so it is of little or
no use for screenreader users. An app that relies on Mouse Keys for keyboard
access is not keyboard accessible.


The real question here is not how to double-click without a mouse; the
question is what is your app's keyboard interface that allows items to be
deleted without requiring double-clicking.


Some possible options here, each which have pros and cons:

If these are items in a SELECT list or some other type of listbox, then the
simplest option may be to have a 'delete selected' button which deletes the
currently selected item.

One option that is used by many email web applications (eg Hotmail, gmail)
is to have a checkbox on each item, and then a button elsewhere on the page
to delete the selected item(s). This is useful where there are other
operations that can be performed on groups of items.

Another option is to have a 'delete' button associated to each item. Some
web apps use a small 'X' icon at the top-right of each item for this
purpose. This UI itself needs to be keyboard and screenreader accessible,
including exposing appropriate text for the delete icon.

These two techniques do require extra UI elements for each item, but have
the benefit of making the functionality discoverable to all users.

Adding keyboard event handler to support for the Delete key is another
option, although this would need to be documented on the page as it is not
discoverable by itself.

As others have noted, using double click has its own set of problems: on the
desktop, double-click usually means to do the default action or to use the
item. For example, double-clicking an icon on the desktop in Windows or Mac
activates the program or document; it certainly doesn't delete it!


Brendan.