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Plan keyboard shortcuts for your app

  • Concept
  • 2 minutes

Keyboard shortcuts let users save time when performing common actions. This page helps you plan which keyboard shortcuts to display in your app to provide a great user experience and maximize effectiveness.

Considerations when planning keyboard shortcuts​

  • Which actions do users frequently perform in my app?
  • Which keyboard shortcuts do similar apps use? Can those shortcuts work in my app?
  • Which shortcuts do users expect from my app?

Tips to define good keyboard shortcuts​

1. Make shortcuts easy to remember​

Connect shortcuts logically to their actions​

  • For example, use Ctrl/Cmd + C for copy action, where C stands for "Copy." Likewise, use Alt/Option + 1-9 to access the symbols on keys 1 to 9.

Reuse common standards​

  • To support user discovery and adoption, check other popular platforms and apps for an overview of commonly used keyboard shortcuts.
  • Check the available modifiers and keys for your app.

2. Make shortcuts compatible across operating systems, browsers, and input devices​

Check different browsers​

  • Test your keyboard shortcuts on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari browsers, as these browsers may already use some of your shortcuts.

Check different operating systems​

  • Check how keyboard shortcuts are named in different operating systems to ensure accuracy and adaptability.

Remember accessibility​

3. Ensure that shortcuts work across different keyboard layouts​

Users have keyboards in various languages and layouts. To create shortcuts that are viable across different keyboard layouts, follow the output rule described in the next section. Learn more about keyboard layouts in different languages.

Notes on displaying keyboard shortcuts​

Our how-to guide Display keyboard shortcuts in your app shows how to code your keyboard shortcuts.

  • For further reference and consistency, keyboard shortcuts for the Dynatrace platform can be found in the Support menu, or simply type ? to open them.

  • For background on how Dynatrace uses the display aria-keyshortcuts attribute, see Mozilla's aria-key shortcuts.

Show the output of the keyboard shortcut​

Always display the output for clarity and ease of use, as the key combinations vary for different keyboard layouts. For example, to produce a ?, users of the English QWERTY keyboard type Shift + /, whereas users of the German keyboard type Shift + ß.

Keyboard shortcuts output, with do and don't examples Keyboard shortcuts output, with do and don't examples

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