Hi and welcome to this week’s web design video blog. As we mentioned last time, this week we are going to look at HTML Access Keys and ask if they are worth using on your website.
So for those of you who don’t know what Access Keys are, they are essentially keyboard shortcuts that allow the website user to instantly jump to different parts of a web page or website. PC users do this by holding ALT and pressing the appropriate key, or CTRL if using an Apple Mac instead. Access Keys were designed to aid Internet users with mobility issues who predominantly use the keyboard instead of the mouse for negotiating websites.
The only problem with Access Keys at the moment is that they are still rarely used or understood by web designers. Unlike most computer shortcuts, Access Keys rely on being installed and being correctly implemented by the web designer for them to work.
The best place to start with HTML Access keys is to learn the standard or guideline for distributing and defining Access keys on your website. In the UK, there are government guidelines for defining Access keys that British based websites should adhere to. These are:
UK Government recommendation for Access keys
- S – Skip navigation
- 1 – Home page
- 2 – What’s new
- 3 – Site map
- 4 – Search
- 5 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- 6 – Help
- 7 – Complaints procedure
- 8 – Terms and conditions
- 9 – Feedback form
- 0 – Access key details
The Skip Navigation shortcut should direct users below the navigation and to the start of the primary content. Access keys 1 through 9 are page navigation short-cuts to take users to specific pages or forms on your website. The ’0′ Access key should take your users to your Access key information page that explains to users how they can use Access keys and which are available on your website.
In order to install Access keys on your website, it is important to understand what HTML elements they can be added to. At present, they can be used for following tags: A, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, LABEL, LEGEND and TEXTAREA.
This obviously means that Access keys are not exclusive to activating links. If we refer back to the UK standard for Access keys -’ Number 4′, should take users to your search facility. Therefore applying the Search Access key to a search form’s ‘input field’ allows users to use an on-page search form, which may be more beneficial than redirecting users to a dedicated search page.
A good example of this use of the Search Access key can be seen on the BBC News website. As you can see, if you activate Access key 4 – the cursor jumps into the search box without use of the mouse or tab button.
Are Access keys Worth Installing?
If we go back to our original question, ‘Are Access keys worth installing?’ we believe the simple answer is yes. For a start, Access keys are being maintained and promoted in HTML 5 and they provide increased accessibility to your website. Setting up Access keys based on the recommended standards should only take a couple of hours to install, and only has to be done once.
Although Access keys were invented over 10 years ago, web designers are taking more steps than ever to improve accessibility and usability on their websites. Search Engines favour websites that take Accessibility and Usability into account, so integrating Accesskeys onto your web pages correctly can only be ticking a box on many levels.
Excellent resource, well done. James