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Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

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Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#51

Post by secoif »

lukifer wrote: post #7
yesimahuman wrote: post #5

IMO backspace as a shortcut key deserves to be overridden. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally left a page while typing backspace after losing focus in a form I thought I was editing. If I were Google, I'd rather reduce the potential for negative experiences from shortcuts for my customers, most of whom I'm guessing rarely use them. Also, how are the cursor keys being overridden in a non-standard way? E…

Completely agreed on backspace; Alt/Cmd+Left already covers it well enough. (I've been having a similar problem with two-finger swipe pageback in Chrome anytime I need to scroll horizontally.)

Modifier key + swipe would really help prevent accidental navigations, IMO.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#52

Post by Joakal »

rinnytinny wrote: post #39
pbreit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But does it lose data like accidentally hitting backspace does?

No data is lost... if you're doing it wrong and hit backspace, hit 'page forward' to correct your blatant error.

On Firefox with Google's main search boxes featuring autocomplete=off; the input gets erased every time.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#53

Post by seven800 »

While it takes some getting used to I'm of the opinion that Google's implementation of this is correct and more usable than the alternative.

The search results are a UI widget and it's reasonable and correct for you to navigate between results with the arrow keys once that control is focused. This is similar to something like a file explorer where the arrow keys select between files or folders rather than scrolling the window.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#54

Post by bilban »

Up voting this, because - I'm also tired of keyboard shortcuts being messed with. I use space as a pager, in the browser - and this feels broke sometimes in gmail.

I don't like backspace as back, but it shines like the spacebar in being a big key that does not require a simultaneous key press.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#55

Post by StavrosK »

rinnytinny wrote: post #39
pbreit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But does it lose data like accidentally hitting backspace does?

No data is lost... if you're doing it wrong and hit backspace, hit 'page forward' to correct your blatant error.

That depends entirely on the browser.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#56

Post by StavrosK »

LancerSykera wrote: post #48
makecheck wrote: post #20

The sad thing is that many sites can't even get basic keyboard support right, and that's something HTML handles quite well. Classic example is Tab ordering. When I hit Tab, I should reach the most prominent and useful field immediately (almost always a big fat search field). But too often, my first Tab lands me somewhere useless, and if I'm really unlucky it even scrolls me all the way to the bottom of the page to re…

Even better - I was recently filling out a form that tabbed in such an incomprehensible manner that I think the tab order number was used to count fields as they were added. For those of us who breeze through signup forms with Olympic speed, it's sort of like Garfield getting out of bed and stepping on to a cold floor.

HN's edit form is no better. Pressing Tab after editing a comment takes you to the "help" link in Chrome.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#57

Post by gcapiel »

fuckmyeyes wrote: post #50

I have very poor vision and need to zoom virtually every webpage to maximum in order to read it. I use keyboard navigation to scroll around when things don't fit horizontally, so this trend is a source of annoyance to me. While we're at it, I used to think all the fancy layouts you see on the web were annoying, and doubly so now that most of them make everything a hassle for me to use.

I agree that this approach has accessibility implications. Depending on how its implemented and the user intent it can make things either harder or easier. Perhaps, we need a standard key to enable a user to toggle off a page overriding the browser shortcuts. This could either be built into browsers, defined as a standard by the W3C or incorporated into JQuery and other common libraries. The first approach would probably be the best , but also the most unlikely. Maybe the WHATWG would like to take this up, though they may consider it independent of HTML standards.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#58

Post by pbreit »

rinnytinny wrote: post #39
pbreit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But does it lose data like accidentally hitting backspace does?

No data is lost... if you're doing it wrong and hit backspace, hit 'page forward' to correct your blatant error.

I lose data all the time. Maybe I'm stupid.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop overriding standard browser navigation keys with Javascript.

#59

Post by schammy »

yesimahuman wrote: post #5

IMO backspace as a shortcut key deserves to be overridden. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally left a page while typing backspace after losing focus in a form I thought I was editing. If I were Google, I'd rather reduce the potential for negative experiences from shortcuts for my customers, most of whom I'm guessing rarely use them. Also, how are the cursor keys being overridden in a non-standard way? E…

Agree about backspace. It is hands down the worst short cut of all time. I have been completely F'd over by it more times than I care to remember.
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