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Keyboard Navigation

aspnet-8123-components-tree-list-concepts-focus-and-navigation-keyboard-navigation.md

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Keyboard Navigation

  • Jun 16, 2022
  • 2 minutes to read

With the provided keyboard support, the ASPxTreeList’s primary navigation operations (such as accessing the control within the form, moving focus through its nodes, node selection and expanding/collapsing, paging) can be quickly and effectively performed, using a keyboard as an alternative to a pointing device. In addition, enabling keyboard support within the ASPxTreeList helps you more easily create web pages that conform to accessibility guidelines.

To enable keyboard navigation, set the ASPxTreeList’s ASPxTreeList.KeyboardSupport property to true. This activates the following features:

  • Access Key - The ASPxTreeList control can be easily accessed (focused) by using a user-defined keyboard shortcut. This shortcut is composed by combining the preset CTRL+SHIFT combination with a single character string specified via the AccessKey property. For example, setting the access key of a TreeList control to the string “T” indicates that an end-user can navigate to the grid by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+T.
  • Focused Node - The Focused Node feature is automatically activated, regardless of the corresponding feature property setting (TreeListSettingsBehavior.AllowFocusedNode). Focus can be moved between nodes by using the UP and DOWN ARROW keys. The LEFT and RIGHT ARROW keys can also be used to move node focus, but these keys initially try to collapse/expand a node and, if it’s impossible, only then do they move focus. Moving focus from the first or last node within a page changes the page within the ASPxTreeList, if applicable.
  • Node Selection - The SPACE key can be used to mark a focused node as selected/unselected. This works if selection can be applied to a node - that is, if the TreeListSettingsSelection.Enabled property is set to true. If the TreeListSettingsSelection.Recursive property is disabled, multiple nodes can be easily selected, by moving row focus using the ARROW keys (UP/DOWN or LEFT/RIGHT) while holding down the SHIFT key.
  • Expanding/Collapsing Nodes - The PLUS and MINUS keys can be used respectively, to expand and collapse nodes. In addition, node collapsing and expanding can be performed using the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW keys.
  • Paging - The SHIFT+PAGE UP and SHIFT+PAGE DOWN key combinations can be used to go to the next/previous grid page.

Note

You can use UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT keys to navigate between tree list nodes if the control’s KeyboardSupport option is enabled. However, the control does not allow you to use the mentioned keys for keyboard navigation if the AccessibilityCompliant option is also enabled.

Online Demo

Accessibility - Keyboard Support