CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascripthtml
Brice Coustillas
Brice Coustillas

Reputation: 2593

How does HTML process the Esc key versus other key

In this line of code, the ACCESSKEY attribute yields the expected result:

<input type="button" value="Cancel" id="bDism" name="bDism" onclick="MyProc()" ACCESSKEY=&#97>

(other lowercase letters than a work too — haven't tried them all!). When you press ALT a MyProc is called.

Now, this one does not work

<input type="button" value="Cancel" id="bDism" name="bDism" onclick="MyPro()" ACCESSKEY=&#27>

Could someone please explain why? (In the same form I also have an OK button with ACCESSKEY=&#10 — which is LF, i.e. Enter, which works although LF is a control character just as ESC is).

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1458

Answers (1)

Jukka K. Korpela
Jukka K. Korpela

Reputation: 201768

The specifications do not define what characters may appear as accesskey attribute values and what the exact functionality is. In practice, browsers support a limited set of values, typically letters and digits, in varying ways; see MDN on accesskey.

Originally intended to promote accessibility, the accesskey attribute has generally become a problem rather than part of a solution, partly due to incompatible implementations and due to its interference with other uses of keyboard shortcuts. See e.g. a WebAIM page on Keyboard Accessibility.

If you have some special need for keyboard commands in HTML, then using JavaScript to process keyboard events is probably a more successful approach.

Upvotes: 2

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