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Re: Custom Keyboard Shortcuts: Are They Enough?

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From: JP Jamous
Date: Jan 23, 2018 2:04PM

I would recommend visible buttons. Keyboard only and SR users won't know the keyboard shortcuts unless you have them displayed on the page. Additionally, If I press CTRL + Alt + o on my machine, Outlook opens up because I have that key combination assigned to it. That is one of the reasons why I do not like keyboard shortcuts on a page.

If page layout is not ample to house all of the buttons, you can show and hide those buttons when onfocus fires up. Visit www.BestBuy.com and press Tab on the home page. You will notice that "Skip to Content" link becomes visible for keyboard users to activate it. You can implement something similar.

With a short instructional message, you can make the UI more accessible without having to take any chances with keyboard shortcuts. Also, your keyboard users will be able to follow your design better.

I hope that helps.