physical interface for entering text character by character.
6
votes
4answers
65 views
Keyboard number row ordering
On a typical keyboard, why is the 0 in the number row next to the 9 instead of the 1?
This seems like a question which should have a straight-forward answer, but the only one I could find is this ...
0
votes
1answer
65 views
Why F1 is the default help key?
Why F1 is the default function key of the keyboard used by many applications/operative systems to show help information to the user?
3
votes
1answer
49 views
Keyboard hiding lower buttons on small Android screens
I have a application (Android) which have scroll activity form. On which there is a button for next screen (lowest of scroll). It's looking fine on large screens of android devices. But keyboard hides ...
12
votes
1answer
142 views
How should keyboard mnemonics be localized?
Is there a standard approach to localizing (internationalize) keyboard mnemonics?
For example, in Windows Notepad in English, if the user types Alt+E then P, the Edit menu opens and then the Paste ...
6
votes
2answers
114 views
Designing bidi text editing
Background. "Bidi" refers to the bidirectional text, that is a text where traditional left-to-right scripts are intermixed with right-to-left ones, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Thaana, etc. Such ...
7
votes
3answers
96 views
Behavior of the Enter button in a form
What is a better experience for a user if they press enter when using a form?
Should it submit the form or move to the next field?
-2
votes
1answer
67 views
Does Facebook use their UX for social engineering? [closed]
I've always wondered if Facebook's UX design is based partly on social engineering.
It's very easy to submit a comment that you might later regret. Pressing the enter key immediately posts your ...
4
votes
5answers
275 views
Why do physical keyboards still have built-in numpads?
Normally I use a wireless keyboard without a number pad and a mouse right next to it. Having started a new job, I was finding my right arm somewhat more sore. This was confusing until I realized:
...
4
votes
2answers
99 views
Tab order for previous/next buttons in a form
We have a multi-step form that has 2 buttons (Previous and Next) at the bottom of each page.
The Previous button is on the bottom left-hand side, and the Next on the bottom right-hand side.
What ...
7
votes
2answers
249 views
What is the reason behind the upper-case-lower-case behaviour of the Apple iOS keyboard?
On Windows and Android phones/tablets the case of the keypad letters alters when pressing SHIFT:
But Apple seems to ignore this presumably useful feature. Does Apple really know it's better NOT to ...
14
votes
6answers
284 views
Delay on keystroke when search as you type
I'm deploying an instant search on my windows app. At the first implementation, when the user type a key, the search engine make a query and return the results. I thought that that wasn't too much ...
3
votes
4answers
153 views
Swipe specific keyboard?
QWERTY was used to prevent the arms of a typewriter from clashing.
DVORAK is made for productivity (~70% of the typing on the homerow)
If you use a swipe keyboard (as available on android 4.2?, swype ...
4
votes
2answers
114 views
Hangman game on mobile - Qwerty or alphabetical keyboard
I'm building a hangman game as part of a bigger mobile educational application. As you know for hangman you select letters and see if they are part of the word or sentence. I'm trying to decide if I ...
4
votes
0answers
33 views
Is there a way to simplify the input of a canadian postal code on a mobile form [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What’s the Best Interface for Entering Canadian Postal Codes on a Smartphone Keyboard?
In Canada, postal code are structured that way
A1A 1A1
A = Letters
1 = Numbers
...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
Phones and numeric keypad [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why do numpads on keyboards and phones have reversed layouts?
Why dose the key layout of a phone goes from 1-9 top-bottom and the numeric keypad of a standard keyboard ...
16
votes
4answers
716 views
Are there any recent studies of the “Keyboard vs Mouse”-issue?
Back in the late 80's, Apple Human Interface concluded that the mouse is faster than the keyboard, objectively. But also that every test person subjectively thought that the keyboard was faster.
...
6
votes
2answers
240 views
Keyboard shortcuts on non-QWERTY keyboard layouts
I've been using the Dvorak keyboard layout for a few years, and something that's always bothered me is keyboard shortcuts. On a QWERTY keyboard copy and paste are conveniently positioned as Ctrl+C and ...
6
votes
4answers
168 views
Hide controls on a touch enabled device and only show them if someone uses a mouse?
We're building a responsive web site and we're having a discussion about how to display controls on a map. The theory is that people with touch-enabled devices do not need to see zoom sliders because ...
6
votes
4answers
368 views
Unintuitive order of vi directional keys
Currently unix text editor vi has the following keys for navigation.
h move left
j move down
k move up
l move right
On keyboard they aligned: Left, Down, Up, Right
But while ...
4
votes
3answers
203 views
Is there research that shows that users don't like typing on virtual keyboards?
A widespread assumption among UX professionals says that users are not keen to use the virtual keyboard. Guidelines for mobile UX recommend to minimise text entry, suggest that typing holds back the ...
3
votes
1answer
98 views
Keyboard navigation (tabbing) and expand/ collapse headers
We are documenting tabbing navigation standards around forms with expand/collapse sections.
Should tabbing through an open section subsequently open and tab through a closed section?
Is there a ...
1
vote
3answers
101 views
Keyboard shortcut for validating a field
I'm designing a web application where the user have to go through a lots of already fillec text fields (~50 a page, could be lots of pages) and must correct some of them and mark the other as "OK".
...
6
votes
4answers
321 views
Why most websites don't use keyboard shortcuts?
I was wondering that why websites don't use keyboard shortcuts as often as desktop software tends to.
I really like keyboard shortcuts in software, they makes me work more efficiently. But why don't ...
4
votes
1answer
88 views
Is Opera right to allow the output element to be selectable?
I was running some tests on the <output> element and noticed that in Opera when tabbing over the inputs, it selects the <output> property.
It kind of took me off guard because I wouldn't ...
3
votes
5answers
368 views
Why isn't a keyboard in alphabetic order?
Mobile Phone Keyboard Redesign
A normal keyboard way designed to be typed with both hands, ten fingers.
A mobile phone Keyboard was just a copy.
Using Fitts law, I think the mobile phone keyboard ...
8
votes
3answers
482 views
Should we include a “Back to top” button for mobile websites?
When building a mobile web site that needs to be accessible — do you consider it to be best practice to include a "Back to top" anchor link in a footer menu for long pages?
I'm thinking about those ...
14
votes
8answers
2k views
How to improve the smartphone keyboard layout?
I have loads of problems with the small keys on my smartphone as my fingers cover them completely. I guess most people have the same problem.
The Qwerty keyboard layout was designed for ten-finger ...
4
votes
2answers
180 views
Are there any studies which investigate the usage of Caps-Lock?
I've created a user interface which re-purposes the Caps Lock key to something more useful. During user studies some participants mentioned they did use the Caps Lock key from time to time. (Sidenote: ...
5
votes
1answer
246 views
Why would number lock be disabled by default?
There was a time that number lock was enabled by default (at least in a Windows environment). Then, after an update one day, all the sudden the Number Lock is disabled. Why the change? What is it ...
5
votes
1answer
213 views
Usability testing a Chorded Keyboard
I'm going to do user tests on a Chorded/Chording Keyboard. I would like to know, if there are any guidelines / tips for testing user-input (example sentences to input)?
7
votes
6answers
2k views
Making mega-menus accessible for keyboard users
Here's the situation. A large corporate site has a mega-menu in the primary navigation. The secondary-level page areas are available from within this dropdown (in this example the secondary levels are ...
2
votes
2answers
219 views
Responsive Layouts: Can they respond to *on-screen* keyboards? (i.e. Tablet / Mobile keyboards)
This question is fairly simple, though I'm not sure the technology exists yet. I'm building a responsive version of a website to be optimized for use with a tablet device. This is one challenge ...
40
votes
2answers
1k views
Why do numpads on keyboards and phones have reversed layouts?
I came across this on the web. It's supposed to be funny, but we all know better :)
So, why are the numpad layouts different, and what are the reasons behind each?
6
votes
2answers
406 views
Is there any research available about the speed of working with a mouse vs. working with a trackpad?
I ask this because of a friend who never hooks up a mouse to his laptop because he claims he can work just as fast with a trackpad as with a mouse.
My personal experience is the other way around. I ...
11
votes
2answers
653 views
Why do the iPhone and iPad keyboards use different shades of gray for the keys and background?
I noticed when working with iPhone and iPad keyboards that they are quite a significantly different colour:
Is there any particular reason for this?
10
votes
7answers
674 views
How should I indicate an added row of buttons above the iPad's keyboard is scrollable?
In my iOS app, I have an extra toolbar that appears above the keyboard, using the same style of buttons as the keyboard. This toolbar is horizontally scrollable.
Currently, in all devices and ...
6
votes
2answers
126 views
Is there any research into the cost of switching between using a keyboard and a mouse?
My intuition and own experience tells me keyboard shortcut keys can be faster than using the mouse. However, some tasks like browsing the internet or a folder hierarchy truly benefit from using a ...
4
votes
3answers
321 views
Air keyboard - does it exist?
Is there some kinect-like device with an application that lets users type in the air and reads what keys they would have typed, were there a keyboard? Even a prototype or a research effort?
It ...
13
votes
4answers
268 views
What's the Best Interface for Entering Canadian Postal Codes on a Smartphone Keyboard?
Typical smartphone keyboards are modal. There is usually a basic QWERTY/Basic punctuation keyboard by default that can be switched to numeric/extended punctuation mode.
This works reasonably well ...
8
votes
2answers
185 views
Is F1-F12 the same for every keyboard/language
I have little tooltip graphics, each with a picture of a keyboard shortcut. Sometimes, the picture is a F5, a F10, etc.
I was wondering (for accessibility reasons) if everyone has a keyboard with "F" ...
6
votes
3answers
945 views
What are the benefits of non-QWERTY keyboards?
I'm stuck with QWERTY, but have been tempted to try Dvorak. Dvorak advocates claim it's faster.
Are there any studies that compare these two (main) keyboard layouts? Are there other layouts out there ...
6
votes
5answers
240 views
Is it time to reevaluate what keys keyboards should have?
I just got my Google I/O Chromebook and one of the most interesting things about the keyboard layout is that certain keys have been replaced by Google with new ones that are more relevant for an ...
24
votes
6answers
979 views
What is the best way to get users to discover and learn keyboard shortcuts
In a mouse driven desktop application, with a ribbon style interface and which has no menubar, what is the best way for users to learn about the shortcuts and accelerators which can help a user work ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
Accesskeys for enterprise web apps / SaaS - worth it?
(Not sure what accesskeys are? Here is an ALA post about them)
If you've ever implemented accesskeys on a web app, do you know if they got used (outside of accessibility concerns)? There seem to be ...
9
votes
1answer
372 views
Most intuitive keyboard shortcut for search & replace dialog
Extending the question on askubuntu what would be the most intuitive solution for the Search & Replace and maybe Find dialog?
Ctrl H -- Gnome, Windows
Ctrl R -- KDE
Ctrl F -- Mac OS
Which ...
4
votes
4answers
576 views
Keyboard shortcut to sort columns in a table?
Clicking on column headers in a table to set the sort order (or toggle ascending/descending if already sorting by this column) is a standard UI technique.
However, it is mouse-only. Is there a ...
2
votes
4answers
1k views
A keyboard for developers? [closed]
Being a software developer, the keyboard is the most important tool to interact with the computer. Thus, the layout and placement of buttons is very essential. Especially the grouping of the ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Dismissing keyboard on Android: UI Pattern
I'm not too familiar with the Android UI patterns, but how does one usually dismiss a keyboard after entering some information? My usecase is to dismiss the keyboard when a user is done entering the ...
1
vote
3answers
312 views
Usability of Ctrl + Enter Submitting of Forms
In my web app I want to give the possibility of submitting every form with Ctrl + Enter shortcut.
What is better:
submit the form with keyboard only when one of the fields of this form is focused
...
1
vote
3answers
697 views
Keyboard shortcuts overriding default browser action
I'd like to add some keyboard shortcuts to my website. How severely is usability affected if I override the default browser behavior?
CTRL+B: bolds the text instead of open bookmarks.
CTRL+N: go to ...
