How to handle alt + shift + r hotkey overlap

[jessegreenberg]

Chrome recently added functionality to this key combination. Its used in a few sims for a reset shortcut.

How do we want to handle this overlap (and potentially others in the future).

• We could use preventDefault for this. I think that is reasonable for scenery applications. If we do that, we need a better way to preventDefault in scenery that doesn' have us going through the DOM event like sceneryEvent.domEvent.preventDefault(). Lets add an option to Hotkey or KeyboardListener for this. Lets consider adding a reusable "reset" Hotkey that also prevents default automatically.
• We could change the keys used and avoid these. Its difficult to find good keys. We decided to use "alt" because it works globally when a screen reader is used (letter keys require application role or "forms" mode). However, avoiding typical modifier keys would be far less likely to overlap with default browser behavior.

[terracoda]

In a slack discussion, @Nancy-Salpepi "z + r" for a partial reset for alpha-decay. The "z" key, due to its proximity to the alt/option key on a QWERTY keyboard might be a candidate for a PhET modifier key. We have used the j-key in other sims (e.g. BASE j+w, j+c, j+n) as a modifier key.

[Nancy-Salpepi]

@KatieWoe took it for a spin with NVDA and Jaws. It looks like we are back to the drawing board here:

It doesn't seem to work with Jaws or NVDA. Both z and r seem to collide on Jaws, and r seems to collide with NVDA while z makes an error sound. The command works on the device when neither screen reader is on.

[Nancy-Salpepi]

@vperezcadavid99 also tried it out. Here is what she found with NVDA:

I noticed that when focusing the interactive highlight on a radio button, such as the ones in the isotopePanel, speedRadioButtonGroup, or even the addAtomsPanel, this keyboard combination seems to work. However, when I focus on other buttons, it doesn't seem to work for me.

[terracoda]

@KatieWoe, would it be possible to check the paired keys in BASE to see if they still function? The way it is suppose to work there is that a user holds j down then holds the second key down.

[KatieWoe]

@terracoda On main or in published?

[terracoda]

Main, then published if not working on Main.

[KatieWoe]

Both Jaws and NVDA still seem to be working on main

[terracoda]

@jessegreenberg, aside from the actual letters, is there something different about the implementaion of the j+w/s/c hot keys in BASE and the z+r hotkey in Alpha Decay?

[jessegreenberg]

No, no difference in the implementation. Thanks for testing all. The behavior desribed makes sense and confirms that letter keys only work in "forms" mode.

• j+w/s/c only work in BASE because focus is on the balloon (application role)
• z+r work on radio buttons (forms mode)
• Otherwise, letter keys control the screen reader and cannot be used by the sim

That is why we decided to use alt before. It seems to allow global key presses for shortcuts, even when not in "forms" mode.

[Nancy-Salpepi]

@AgustinVallejo implemented the preventDefault option and confirmed it works for Windows + Chrome. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me on mac + chrome.

[Nancy-Salpepi]

Also I had @KatieWoe try the "jump to" features in CCK because they are different than BASE. In that sim we aren't trying to move an object with focus to a certain location. Instead we are just trying to move focus to a certain area.
From phetsims/alpha-decay#82:

[terracoda]

Oh, good to know.