Public Announcement Keyboard Navigation
We consider keyboard navigation a signature feature of our digital product. The keyboard really transforms the experience. It’s a performance boost.
~~~
The ↑
↓
keys simply scroll up and down
We reveal a graphic indicating that an ↑
or ↓
was pressed, but we do not hijack normal keyboard scroll behaviors. This way the user can scroll with their arrows as they normally would.
~~~
For keyboard shortcut enthusiasts, it’s normal to scroll up and down webpages using ↑
↓
. By tapping into this behavior and revealing a cool animation, we indicate to our power users that Public Announcement keyboard shortcuts exist.
This is important because discovery is hard. How else will people find our important keyboard shortcuts!? We must sprinkle clues.
~~~
Finally, our destination homepage is home to our most key keyboard shortcuts. There the ↑
↓
arrows unlock special functionality, allowing users to step through the Top 100 links in the left rail. No need to mouse over links individually—just arrow up and down. And when you arrive on a link you’d like to read, try pressing and holding ⌘command
and then ⮑return
to pop a new tab. (You can see an example of this keyboard shortcut in this post’s video.)
About
We edit the web from
our destination homepage.
Weekdays we send an email.
Join Public Announcement to
secure service and unlock
full functionality.
◆