Ever get overwhelmed by the number of things you have to memorize in order to function in today’s society? User names, passwords, account numbers, PINs, locker combinations, telephone numbers, TV channels, and on and on until our brains explode.
Now consider this: You’re a computer user but you can’t use a mouse because of a visual or physical disability, or you prefer not using a mouse because it’s inefficient. Fortunately you can probably perform most computer functions using the keyboard, in combination with assistive technology if you’re an AT user. You just need to memorize a few keyboard shortcuts, like the following:
Operating Systems
Browsers
- 90 Firefox keyboard shortcuts
- 76 Chrome keyboard shortcuts
- 103 Safari keyboard shortcuts
- 281 Internet Explorer 9 keyboard shortcuts
Of course, the above counts don’t include any add-ons, plug-ins or extensions you might be using. Those typically have keyboard shortcuts too.
Screen Readers
- 495 JAWS keyboard shortcuts
- 184 NVDA keyboard shortcuts
- 254 VoiceOver keyboard shortcuts
- 134 Window-Eyes keyboard shortcuts
That’s a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Of course, most people don’t use all of those tools. A typical screen reader user will have one primary screen reader that they use, with maybe one other as a backup. The same is true of browsers, unless the person is a web developer, in which case they’re probably using all browsers at some level.
But wait! There’s more. Every software application has its own keyboard shortcuts, and most computer users probably use the following software products, or similar products with similar numbers of shortcuts:
Software Applications
- 131 Adobe Reader keyboard shortcuts
- 371 Microsoft Word keyboard shortcuts
- 73 Microsoft Excel keyboard shortcuts
- 249 Microsoft PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts
- 68 Quicken keyboard shortcuts
Fortunately software makers have historically done a pretty good job of standardizing on keyboard shortcuts. Ever since the advent of the graphic user interface, users could generally depend on being able to use Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl+Z to undo, Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl + X to cut, and Ctrl+V to paste, to mention only a few examples. The modifier keys are different on a Mac, but the letter keys are the same, and the vast majority of software applications support these standards.
As websites become increasingly interactive, they too are tending to have full-blown application interfaces with keyboard shortcuts that allow non-mousers to interact with user interface components such as tabs, menus, sliders and much more. What kind of crazy out-of-control world would this be if every website defined its own set of keyboard shortcuts?
The DHTML Style Guide provides recommended keyboard models for several dozen common web widgets. This would seem to be a good starting point. Surely most web-based applications today can be accessed and controlled using the existing keys supported either by the operating system, browser, or assistive technology. If that’s not the case, surely their unique user interface components can be accessed using a keyboard model recommended by the DHTML Style Guide.
We don’t want to see every web application creating their own keyboard interface. Take Google, for example. I applaud their efforts to improve accessibility of their applications. However, new keyboard shortcuts play a key role in their accessibility strategy. For example, they have:
- 30 Google Drive keyboard shortcuts
- 61 Gmail keyboard shortcuts
- 21 Google Calendar keyboard shortcuts
- 67 Google Documents keyboard shortcuts
- 59 Google Presentations keyboard shortcuts
- 18 Google Sites keyboard shortcuts
- 5 Google Chat keyboard shortcuts
They’ve clearly put a lot of work into making their applications keyboard-accessible so I hate to criticize, but the cognitive load is off the charts. All of the intuitive keyboard shortcuts are already taken, so we’re now overflowing with keyboard shortcuts that seem to have been assigned randomly. Maybe it’s just me, but I find my brain constantly stretching to figure out why they chose a particular key to represent a particular function, hoping if I can discover that logic I’ll be better able to commit the keystroke to memory. Take these examples:
- Archive the current conversation in Gmail: Y then O
- Insert footnote in Google Docs: Ctrl + Alt + E then Ctrl + Alt + F
- Move to next heading in Google Docs: Ctrl + Alt + N then Ctrl + Alt + H
- Navigate in any direction using VoiceOver: VoiceOver Key + Command + Shift +arrow keys
- Activate Adobe Read OutLoud and read the current page, then stop speech when you’ve heard enough: Shift + Control + Y then Shift + Control + V then Shift + Control + E
Maybe I just feel this way because it’s late on Friday of a very busy week, but I’m tired of memorizing keystrokes.
To anyone who is creating exciting new technologies:
Please continue to innovate! But unless your innovation has a radical new interface that bears no resemblance whatsoever to existing web, software, or document interfaces, there is already a keyboard model for what you’ve built. Please support it. Thanks!
Bonus Content: The Making of On Memorizing 3,523 Keyboard Shortcuts
If you think counting all these keystrokes must have taken some time, you’re right. However, it didn’t take as long as you probably think it did. For the curious, here’s my secret. It’s possible I’ve made some incorrect assumptions about the structure of some products’ keyboard shortcut help pages, which may result in inaccurate counts. So, consider these approximations, rounded to the nearest ton.
One reply on “On Memorizing 3,523 Keyboard Shortcuts”
Very well put. There’s something wrong when getting simple access relies on prodigious feats of memory (or constantly looking things up). A perfect example of why we have a long way to go in delivering real accessibility.