• Success Criterion 2.1.4
  • Conformance level A

Library’s Default Hotkeys Shipped With No Settings Toggle

2.1.4 — Character Key Shortcuts

Scenario

Setting

A recipe site's ingredient list

What’s wrong

Library defaults (hotkeys in players/mail apps) shipped enabled with no settings toggle.

Example

document.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.key === 's') save(); });

Why it matters

Speech-input users and people who press keys accidentally.

How to test

Check the app/player's settings for a hotkeys toggle: if shortcuts are enabled by default with no visible settings option, it fails.

How to fix

The single-key shortcut must be turn-off-able, remappable to include a modifier key, or active only when its control has focus. document.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.ctrlKey && e.key === 's') save(); }); Single-character shortcuts with no modifier key collide with screen reader and speech-input commands.

Outcome

On a recipe site's ingredient list, this barrier is gone for speech-input users and people who press keys accidentally — they no longer have to work around this.

Who is affected

Speech-input users and people who press keys accidentally.

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