Re: [Usability] Keyboard navigation- outstanding issues

[Michael Rogers <banthafodder connectfree co uk>]

How about this:

Left and right arrow keys are used instead of Tab and Shift+Tab. ONLY
left and right, not up or down, because navigating around a dialog using
four arrow keys is a nightmare. If we only use left and right then we
can chain the widgets together in a fairly obvious order. (Moving from
top left to bottom right in rows is a familiar order for people who read
left-to-right, and probably not awful for people who read right-to-left.
In any case it won't be any worse than Tab/Shift+Tab, and it'll be
better than four arrow keys.)

Within a text field, left and right move you through the text until you
reach the end. Then they move you to the next widget. Tab enters a Tab
character. The space bar enters a space. Enter starts a new line (or
does nothing in a single-line field). Rationale: it is better to be
surprised by nothing happening than to be surprised by something
unintended happening. The special 'default button' border is removed
from the default button when a text field has focus, as a clue that it
will not be activated by pressing Enter.

Outside of a text field, Enter activates the default button. The space
bar has the same effect as left-clicking on the currently selected
widget. Pressing Tab or Shift+Tab causes a tooltip to appear, explaining
that the left and right arrow keys can be used to navigate around the
dialog, and the space bar can be used to activate things. (A tooltip is
less intrusive than an info box.)

Within a scroll pane, up and down scroll vertically. Left and right
scroll horizontally (if necessary) until you reach the end, then they
move you onto the next widget. So you can ALWAYS move all the way
through a dialog using the left and right arrow keys, without getting
stuck in some text widget or scroll pane.

Michael