Keyboard Alternatives

Users will be able to alter any keyboard alternative through the Preferences application (or a separate application just for that purpose).  Initially, until the user specifies a different preference, applications should follow the guidelines for keyboard alternatives shown on the next page.

The guidelines place keyboard alternatives into three groupsÐreserved, required, and recommended.

·	Reserved.  Keyboard alternatives that are reserved for specific commands must be used with those commands, and cannot be used for any others:

Alternative	Command	Menu
Command-a	Select All	Edit menu
Command-c	Copy	Edit menu
Command-h	Hide	main menu
Command-n	New	Document menu
Command-o	Open	Document menu
Command-p	Print	main menu
Command-q	Quit	main menu
Command-s	Save	Document menu
Command-v	Paste	Edit menu
Command-w	Close Window	Windows menu
Command-x	Cut	Edit menu
Command-z	Undo	Edit menu

·	Required.  Keyboard alternatives that must be used if the application implements the command (if not, the key can be used for some other command):

Alternative	Command	Menu
Command-=	Define in Webster	Services menu
Command-;	Check Spelling	Edit menu
Command-b	Bold (Unbold)	Font menu
Command-d	Find Previous	Find menu
Command-e	Enter Selection	Find menu
Command-f	Find Panel	Find menu
Command-g	Find Next	Find menu
Command-i	Italic (Unitalic)	Font menu
Command-t	Font Panel	Font menu

·	Recommended.  Keyboard alternatives that must be used for a command if the command has a keyboard alternative (if not, the key can be used for some other command):

Alternative	Command	Menu
Command-?	Help	Info menu
Command-1	Copy Ruler	Text menu
Command-2	Paste Ruler	Text menu
Command-3	Copy Font	Font menu
Command-4	Paste Font	Font menu
Command-j	Jump to Selection	Find menu
Command-m	Miniaturize Window	Windows menu
Command-Shift-S	Save As	Document menu

Application-Specific Keyboard Alternatives

The main consideration in deciding which commands should have keyboard alternatives is frequency of use.  It's better to assign a keyboard alternative to a frequently used command than to one that's used less often.  Infrequently used commands should never be assigned keyboard alternatives, the Info Panel (or Info) command in particular.

It's usually a good idea to assign keyboard alternatives to commands that are needed while working on the keyboard (for example, the commands in the Find menu).  The keyboard alternative frees users from having to switch their attention from the keyboard to the mouse and back again.

Keep in mind, however, that some keyboard alternatives enable proficient users to work with one hand on the keyboard and the other on the mouse.  For example, Command-x, Command-c, and Command-v allow users to select with the mouse while carrying out cut, copy, and paste operations from the keyboard.  These keyboard alternatives free users from having to move the cursor out of the region where they're working just to click a command.

If keyboard alternatives are assigned to any in a set of parallel commands for formatting or viewing data (e.g., commands that sort a list of items in various ways), the command that restores the default should also be assigned a keyboard alternative.  The keyboard can then take the user to an alternative format and back to the default, rather than just half way.