2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts

Level A

If a keyboard shortcut is implemented in content using only letter (including upper and lowercase letters), punctuation, number, or symbol characters, then at least one of the following is true:

Turn off

A mechanism is available to turn the shortcut off;

Remap

A mechanism is available to remap the shortcut to include one or more non-printable keyboard keys (e.g., Ctrl, Alt);

Active only on focus

The keyboard shortcut for a user interface component is only active when that component has focus.

Who This Helps

• Speech users will be able to turn off single-key shortcuts so they can avoid accidentally firing batches of them at once. This will allow speech users to make full use of programs that offer single-key shortcuts to keyboard users.
• Keyboard-only users who have dexterity challenges can also be prone to accidentally hitting keys. Those users would be able to avoid problematic single character shortcuts by turning them off or modifying them to include at least one non-character key.
• Allowing all shortcut keys to be remapped can help users with some cognitive disabilities, since the same shortcuts can be assigned to perform the same actions across different applications.

Examples

Disable Shortcuts

A mechanism is provided to allow users to disable character-key shortcuts. The character key shortcuts are not the only way to carry out these commands. A speech user disables the shortcuts and can prevent words that are picked up by the microphone from triggering single-key shortcuts.

Alternate Control

A keyboard-only user is in a long issues thread. While reading the thread she accidentally hits the S key, which moves focus to the search bar at the top of the document. This causes her to lose her place and her train of thought. However, a mechanism is provided to allow users to change character-key shortcuts. She changes the shortcut to include another key so she can avoid future interruptions.