The importance of keyboard navigation is emphasized in Accessibility Overlay Tools' training. Given the developments in technology today, people expect to navigate their PCs or devices through mice or by touch screen. But for individuals who need alternative input methods, keyboard accessibility and navigation remain the best options.
What does keyboard navigation mean?
Consider the keyboard shortcuts that you may be using regularly.
Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V are copy and paste respectively. There are also ways to
navigate a computer's interface through the keyboard with these
"shortcuts." These are what is called keyboard navigation.
One example is the Alt + Tab combination, which allows users to
shift through different windows on the screen. The tab key alone moves the
cursor or highlighted area on a page across various links, buttons, or fields
onscreen.
Benefits of Keyboard Navigation
For the trainers at Accessibility Overlay Tools, learning to
optimize keyboard navigation is part of the best practices in website design.
Moreover, while it's an excellent method to expand your interface to address
the needs of more people, some users prefer to use the keyboard even if they do
not need alternative navigation.
It's faster to issue commands on a keyboard than using a mouse.
It also gives direct control instead of navigating the mouse and clicking. One
example is using Ctrl + S to save. Instead of navigating the mouse to a menu
and pressing save off the dropdown, you can immediately tell the computer what
to do.
Why it matters
Overall, Accessibility Overlay Tools considers this type of
navigation to suit users' needs both for accessibility and efficiency. It's
part of what improves the overall user experience on your website or your page.
Make sure that you stay consistent on navigation with every page
you design, and you make the page responsive to keyboard commands. Test them by
using various keyboard command combinations, and make sure that links, buttons,
radio buttons, dropdown menus, and other parts work well. This way, you ensure
accessibility for all, and you provide your users with an efficient navigation
system throughout your page.
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