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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.
-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of KK Kevin Kuder (5132)
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 2:51 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Custom Keyboard Shortcuts: Are They Enough?

I am working on a project that has a movable content bin. It can be moved in the following ways:


· Using a mouse to click and drag it

· Using touchscreen controls to touch and drag it

· Tabbing to it via keyboard or clicking on it with a mouse and using custom keyboard shortcuts to move it:

o Alt+Ctrl+M to set to Move mode when the object is selected

§ Use the arrow keys to move left/right/up/down

The question I have is: Since we have custom keyboard controls does that cover the "needs to be keyboard accessible" portion of accessibility for this? I argue that we also need alternative keyboard controls, such as alternative form elements (perhaps buttons) that would allow the user to navigate to and move the content bin up/down/left/right with one keystroke (ENTER) since some of the custom keyboard commands are complex. There are also custom keyboard controls for rotate and resize of the same bin type.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.