accesskey
The accesskey
global attribute provides a hint for generating a keyboard shortcut for the current element. The attribute value must consist of a single printable character (which includes accented and other characters that can be generated by the keyboard).
Try it
The way to activate the accesskey depends on the browser and its platform:
Windows | Linux | Mac | |
---|---|---|---|
Firefox | Alt + Shift + key | Control + Option + key or Control + Alt + key | |
MS Edge | Alt + key |
Control + Option + key or Control + Option + Shift + key |
Control + Option + key |
Google Chrome | |||
Safari | n/a | Control + Option + key | |
Opera | Alt + key | Control + Alt + key |
Accessibility concerns
There are numerous concerns with the accesskey
attribute:
- An
accesskey
value can conflict with a system or browser keyboard shortcut, or assistive technology functionality. What may work for one combination of operating system, assistive technology, and browser may not work with other combinations. - Certain
accesskey
values may not be present on certain keyboards, especially when internationalization is a concern. So adapting to specific languages could cause further problems. accesskey
values that rely on numbers may be confusing to individuals experiencing cognitive concerns, where the number doesn't have a logical association with the functionality it triggers.- Informing the user that
accesskey
s are present, so that they are aware of the functionality. If the system lacks a method of notifying the user about this feature, the user might accidentally activateaccesskey
s.
Because of these issues, it is generally advised not to use accesskey
s for most general-purpose websites and web apps.
Specifications
Specification |
---|
HTML Standard # the-accesskey-attribute |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser