Keyboard navigation from slides to layers

Nov 29, 2023

Training Programs
By Training Programs

Hi Team,

Our team is working to make our SL interactions more accessible to individuals who do not have access to a mouse, only a keyboard. 

We have set out the following to be our guidelines for learners to navigate SLs if they do not have access to a mouse:
> (right arrow): Go to next slide/layer
<(left arrow): Go to previous slide/layer

Upon building an SL containing both slides and layers, these controls work fine from slide to slide, but not on layer to layer. 

I had seen a similar thread on your forums a little while back, in relation to the 'user presses' trigger - which always requires an object the user needs to click on prior to pressing a key. Oddly, the trigger works slide to slide without the user clicking on the designated object, but it does not function on a layer to layer basis. 

I have attempted to make the object's (a button in this case) state to be selected upon the start of the slide timeline, but this will not apply to the multiple layers on that one slide, hence the trigger is not operational. 

Is there any way to program SL to navigate through an interaction that contains both slides and layers using only the right and left arrow keys?

 

Cheers, Ash

3 Replies
Walt Hamilton
5 months ago11/29/23 at 4:30 am (UTC)

My first instinct is to say that if you are absolutely bound to only two possible arrow keys, then you are bound to always following a certain order. i.e. press RA shows layer 1, press again show layer 2, until layers are exhausted, at which point RA shows next slide. To get to previous slide requires LA until all the layers have been traversed before previous slide can be seen.  Adding the use of up and down arrows and the tab key may give you more flexibility, as you can program things like when RA is pushed show layer 1 if object XX has focus.

I find the arrow keys working without clicking, as long as the object has the focus, even though the trigger says "after user clicks"

Otherwise, you need to keep track of how many times RA has been pressed. If it is 1, show layer 1, if 2, layer 2, etc.

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