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Re: QUESTION: Access Keys

for

From: Jon Gunderson
Date: Sep 29, 2001 12:00AM

Laura,
One example of documenting Accesskey on a web site can be found at:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips/qtform.htm

I also suggest you consider underlining characters that are associated with
the control/link and the access key. This a windows convention for showing
short cuts.
Jon

At 11:39 AM 9/28/2001 -0400, Joel Ward wrote:
>Hi Laura,
>
>Accesskeys are not necessary for Section 508, but they are good for
>accessibility/usability. So is tabindex. They work in MSIE 4.0+ and
>Netscape 6.0+.
>
>I would suggest that you summarize the access keys somewhere prominent on
>the site, not just by using an underline. The underline is generally not
>recognizable by assistive technology.
>
>You may want to include a help section if the keys are common on many pages,
>or just summarize them at the top of the form if they apply just to that
>page.
>
>Some notes:
>
>1) In your code, make sure to write the all attributes like this, without
>spaces and including double quotes:
> type="text"
> accesskey="L"
> tabindex="3"
>
>Using spaces between the equal sign and the values may cause problems with
>some browsers/assistive technology. Also, don't include hard returns in the
>code within an attribute in a tag. That doesn't validate either. For
>example, this validates:
> <input title="This is a test">
>but this does not:
> <input title="This is a
> test">
>
>2) Don't use the same accesskey more than once on a page. Use each letter
>only once. (You used F, L, and A twice on your included example.) Also, be
>careful not to redefine standard letters/numbers that are used by the
>operating system. This may confuse users.
>
>Using the label tag is a good idea. The AT should read the label of the
>field if you use the following format:
> <label for="test">Test Field</label>
> <input type="text" accesskey="T" tabindex="1">
>No need to use accesskey in the label tag.
>
>3) The ALT attribute is not officially part of the INPUT tag. So, your
>example with the ALT will most likely not work. Instead, you can use the
>TITLE attribute with many tags. Example:
> <input type="text" title="Please enter your last name so we know how to
>address your responses. (Access Key: L)" accesskey="L" id="lname"
>tabindex="3">
>
>Check out Index Dot HTML for more reference on these tags:
> http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/
>
>Joel
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Schoppa, Laura" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>To: < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 9:42 AM
>Subject: QUESTION: Access Keys
>
>
> > Hello -
> >
> > I understand that adding Access Keys to navigate around a page is
>considered
> > a good idea for making accessible pages.
> >
> > My question is: How do you let the user know that, for example, ALT + L
>(if
> > this is the keystroke combination assigned to go to a field in a form to
> > fill out one's last name - see attached) - will take them to a certain
> > location?
> >
> > Are Access Keys necessary to implement to be in compliance with 508?
> >
> > Is it a good idea to give the user a page of Access Keystroke combinations
> > to get around a site in general? Are there any good examples out there of
> > sites that employ Access Keys effectively?
> >
> > thanks for any info! <<form.htm>>
> >
> > Laura Schoppa
> > Graphic Designer / Web Developer
> > SI Enterprise Consulting Corp.
> >
> > Office: 703-905-1687
> >
> >
> >
Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
MC-574
College of Applied Life Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820
Voice: (217) 244-5870
Fax: (217) 333-0248
E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund
WWW: http://www.w3.org/wai/ua