A robust set of HTML Access Key assignments

Access keys are used to insure easier navigation of a web page by the blind etc. They are required for Section 508 Accessibility. One of the problems is that different browsers consume different keys, or do not support certain keys. Additionally some accessibility add-ins also consumes some of the keys.  In short, it’s a mine field!

 

The following is a recommendation on how to walk this mine field following government standards and the quarks of various browsers and add-ins.  If there are any problems, please email or post.

 

NOTE: Some items are duplicated – this is not avoidable with this mine field. There are only five open slots unless you get into the funky symbols.

 

Key

Conflict in

Usage

A

IE

 

B

NS7,O7

 

C

   

D

IE

 

E

IE,NS7,O7

 

F

IE,NS7,O7

 

G

NS7

 

H

IE,NS7,O7

 

I

   

J

  Direct Jumps Panels ( aka Quick Links Panel)

K

 

“Site Map” à Menu

L

 

“Glossary” – page jump

M

O7

 

N

O7

 

O

 

Home Page

P

 

“Feedback Form”

Q

 

“Go to FAQ page” – page jump

R

 

“What’s New” à Bulletin

S

 

Skip Navigation. Goes directly to Main Content of page

T

IE,NS7

 

U

 

“Terms and Conditions”

V

IE,O7

 

W

NS7,O7

 

X

 

“Help”

Y

 

“Complaints”

Z

   

0

!O7

“Access Key Details”

1

!O7

“Home Page”

2

!O7

“What’s New” à Bulletin

3

!O7

“Site Map” à Menu

4

!O7

“Search” to search box

5

!O7

“Go to FAQ page” – page jump

6

!O7

“Help”

7

!O7

“Complaints”

8

!O7

“Terms and Conditions”

9

!O7

“Feedback Form”

>

   

<

   

!O7 – reports are that these Access Keys letters do not work in Opera 7

 

Since I use Master Pages often, then it’s a simple matter to set them up appropriately once and not worry about them on individual pages. Also, for accessibility, you want to make sure that the complete menu of all pages (Site Map) is on the page and hide items via CSS that you do not wish to have displayed.

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