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Keyboard shortcuts apart from Screen Reader hotkeys?

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From: Akshi Kakar
Date: Feb 14, 2014 10:20AM


I have been referring to WCAG 2.0 to meet all accessibility requirements for our web application and have questions about one specific requirement:

"2.1.1 Keyboard: All functionality<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#functiondef>; of the content is operable through a keyboard interface<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#keybrd-interfacedef>; without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes, except where the underlying function requires input that depends on the path of the user's movement and not just the endpoints. (Level A)"

I have read the 'How to Meet' and 'Understanding' portions of this criteria and understood that all user actions that require continuous mouse movement such as 'drag and drop' need to have a keyboard alternative.

My question is, do we need to provide keyboard shortcuts or alternatives for the basic navigation within the web application or do users access them through the arrow/tab keys or the screen reader? This is probably a question for users of alternative keyboards or those with motor disabilities.

Thank you for your time.

Regards,
Akshi