#  ✎ Technique: Character key shortcuts 

 



If keyboard shortcuts are implemented using only a letter (including upper- and lower-case letters), punctuation, number, or symbol characters, provide a way to turn off or remap character key shortcuts:

- **Turn off**: A mechanism is available to turn the shortcut off;
- **Remap**: A mechanism is available to remap the shortcut to use one or more non-printable keyboard characters (e.g. Ctrl, Alt, etc);
- **Active only on focus**: The keyboard shortcut for a user interface component is only active when that component has focus.

If you provide character key shortcuts, provide a way to turn them off and a way to remap them. When remapping, allow users to assign one or more characters to the shortcut.

(Source: [Knowbility article on character key shortcuts](https://knowbility.org/blog/2018/WCAG21-214CharacterKeyShortcuts/))



 



 

 See also:- [ Controls ](/accessibility-topics/controls)
- [ Inputs ](/accessibility-topics/inputs)
- [ Keyboard ](/access-technologies/keyboard)
- [ Keyboard ✎ ](/content/keyboard)
- [ Support keyboard interaction ✎ ](/content/support-keyboard-interaction)
- [ Operable ](/techniques/principles/operable)
- [ Motor impairment ](/disabilities/motor-impairment)
- [ HTML ](/web-technologies/html)
- [ Techniques ](/page-categories/techniques)