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Re: Short cut keys

for

From: David Engebretson Jr.
Date: Jul 17, 2020 5:14PM

I think I'm missing something here as a native screen reader user.
Control+home and control+end always bring me to the first and last elements
on the page, respectively (at very least the first and last items in the
DOM).

Is there a way for a native screen reader user to emulate the experience of
a keyboard only user that doesn't use assistive technology?

I'd like to know what a keyboard only user experiences but I can't do much
without my screen reader activated since I'm blind and rely on the screen
reader to tell me where I am and what I'm navigating.

Am I making any sense? I don't want to clog up the list with questions that
aren't relevant to the mission of the list, or the intent of the initial
question.

I've always considered myself a keyboard only user since, with a screen
reader, I use only the keyboard to navigate. I haven't used a mouse in 20
years.

Thanks for all thoughts. I appreciate your feedback.
David



-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of glen
walker
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2020 2:05 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Short cut keys

Home/end or ctrl+home/end have always worked for me. As noted earlier, it
scrolls the page but does not move the keyboard focus, but I don't consider
that a big deal (for me). If I need my focus moved to the first or last
element on the page, I can easily get there by going to the address bar
(which has a shortcut key) then either tabbing forwards or backwards
depending if I want my focus at the top or bottom of the page, respectively.

For sighted keyboard users, you have to think about what it means to go to
the top or bottom of the page. Visually, it's easy to scroll the page to
the top or bottom, but if you want your focus moved, for keyboard users, it
should move the first or last *focusable* element and not just the first or
last DOM element. For screen reader users, moving to the top of the page
puts the screen reader focus on the first DOM element, which makes sense.
For keyboard users, putting the focus on the first DOM element, if it's not
an interactive element, does not make sense.
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