In plain English
Some sites add single-key shortcuts, press “s” to jump to search, “/” to focus a field. Handy for power users, risky for others: someone using voice control might say a word that trips the shortcut, or a person with tremors might bump the key. This rule says single-character shortcuts must be optional: let people turn them off, remap them, or make them work only when the right control is focused.
If your store has no such shortcuts, this one simply does not apply.
Who this is for
- Speech-input users, whose spoken words can accidentally trigger key shortcuts.
- People with tremors or motor differences, who hit keys unintentionally.
How to check and fix it yourself
Do any single keys do something on your site without a modifier? If yes, provide a control to disable or remap them, or scope them to a focused element.
Good: shortcut requires Ctrl (a modifier), or can be turned off in settings.
Good: "s" only opens search when the search box already has focus.
Bad: pressing "s" anywhere opens search, with no way to disable it.Where we can help
Single-key shortcuts often come from third-party search or power-user apps. We check whether any exist on your store and, if so, confirm they can be disabled or remapped. It is one of the WCAG 2.1/2.2 checks.