Accesskeys Defined

So, what are accesskeys?

For the uninitiated, they are a means for people to jump immediately to a specific part of an HTML page by pressing ALT (PC) or CTRL (Mac), followed by the appropriate key on the keyboard, as defined via an accesskey parameter.

They're particularly useful for people with mobility issues who don't use a mouse and have a keyboard for their every movement on a computer. Accesskeys allow them quickly and easily to hop around the content of  Web pages. Able-bodied users can find them equally useful as shortcuts, too. 

We've added some basic Access Keys to this website for everyone to use...

How to use Access Keys

Unfortunately all the browser manufacturers have not agreed on how to work access keys yet - so exactly which keystrokes you press depends upon which browser you are using.  

Here are the 2 most popular browsers...
Firefox uses <alt> + <shift> + letter
IE uses <alt> + letter

Here are some other options and comments about using access keys with different browsers from the Wikipedia...
 

Access in different Browsers

A more complete list, which browser support the HTML Access keys are compared in the comparison of web browsers.

In most web browsers, the user invokes the access key by pressing Alt (on PC) or Ctrl (on Mac) simultaneously with the appropriate character on the keyboard.

Web Browser	Modifier	Effect	Notes
Amaya	Ctrlor Alt		Adjustable in preferences
Blazer		Link is activated immediately upon key press.	No modifier is needed for this web browser used on mobile devices.
Camino	Ctrl
Google Chrome > v.3	Alt resp. Ctrl + Option (on Mac)		Access Keys were not functional in 2.x builds of Chrome, but are now supported in current versions.
Firefox 2 & 3	Alt + ⇧ Shift resp. Ctrl (on Mac)		Prior to version 2.0 Firefox used just Alt Configurable via about:config
Internet Explorer	Alt	Alt + Access Key focuses on the link, but requires ↵ Enter to be pressed in order to activate the link
Konqueror	Ctrl	The modifier key must be released before the regular key is pressed.
Opera	⇧ Shift+Esc	The modifier key must be released before the regular key is pressed. Once the modifier key is released, browser lists the set of access keys on that page with action and user can hit the desired key.	Configurable via Graphical user interface
Safari 3	Ctrl (Alt for Windows )
Safari 4	Ctrl+Option (Alt for Windows )

Wikipedia Jul 2010