Keyboard testing

Keyboard testing refers to testing the app on a desktop/laptop machine without using a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen. This is an important part of manual testing as there are many users that prefer and/or need to primarily or exclusively use a keyboard for online navigation.

To perform keyboard testing:

• Use Tab to focus on a button, link, or other UI element.
• Use Enter select (“click”) the focused UI element.

When to test

• When new UI elements are introduced.
• When significant UI/design changes are introduced (e.g. site-wide style changes, template refactoring).

Scenarios

The following scenarios should be reviewed at a minimum.

• The skip link, a link with the text Skip to main content / Saltar al contenido principal, should appear on the first Tab press on any page. When selected, it should move focus past all elements in the header so that the next Tab lands on the first interactive element in the main content area.
• All links, buttons, and form elements should have a visible indication that the targeted item is focused.
• All modals should close by pressing Escape.
• A full enrollment can be completed using only the keyboard, without getting stuck in any keyboard traps.