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Keyboard Handling for SAPUI5 UI ElementsLocate this document in the navigation structure

SAPUI5 UI elements provide keyboard handling in order to improve accessibility and speed up work.

Keyboard Shortcuts for End Users

In this topic we introduce the main keyboard combinations that are used by SAPUI5 UI elements. Furthermore we describe some additional combinations that are used in specific cases.

Table 1: Main Keyboard Combinations
Key Combination What it does Specific Behavior
Tab / Shift + Tab Focuses UI elements in order (forward / backward) You can cycle through all interactive, enabled and visible UI elements that are part of a given dialog or other container. When the last UI element is focused, pressing the key again will move the focus to first element.
Space Triggers an action (reversible) Pressing and releasing the key triggers the action that is associated with an UI element (for example, open a link or toggle a button).
Tip

If you press and hold the key, you can cancel the trigger action by pressing Shift.

Enter

Triggers an action (immediate)

Triggers the action that is associated with an UI element (for example, open a link or toggle a button). The action is triggered immediately after the key is pressed.

Arrow Keys Navigates between elements You can move the focus between elements within a complex UI element (for example a table or a list). Depending on the structure, this navigation is either one-directional (left/right or up/down) or two-directional (left, right, up, down).
Home / End Navigates between elements You can move the selection to the first/last element within a set of elements.
Tip When using UI elements like sliders and rating indicators, pressing these keys will set the selected value to the maximum/minimum respectively.
Page Up / Page Down Skips elements during navigation You can move the selection forward/backward by several elements at a time. If the remaining number of elements is less than the step size, selection will move to the last/first element.
Escape Closes element / Reverts changes Depending on your situation, you can do the following:
  • Close an additionally opened element (for example, a pop-up).

  • Revert the execution to a previous step - one step at a time.

  • If you have made changes to the content of an element (for example, a text field), pressing this key will revert those changes.

F4 / Alt + Down / Alt + Up Opens / closes a drop-down menu You can open the options and elements available in a drop-down menu, if the UI element in question provides this type of information.
F6 / Shift + F6 Skips focus of UI elements (forward / backward) UI elements within an application can be grouped together (for example, all elements in the header of an application). You can skip focusing the elements within a group by using these keys.
Table 2: Additional Keyboard Combinations for Specific UI elements
Key Combination What it does Specific Behavior
Page Up / Page Down Date modification (Days) Pressing these keys increases/decreases the date value by one day.
Shift + Page Up / Shift + Page Down Date modification (Months) Pressing these keys increases/decreases the date value by one month.
Ctrl + Shift + Page Up / Ctrl + Shift + Page Down Date modification (Years) Pressing these keys increases/decreases the date value by one year.
Ctrl + Arrow Keys When used with grouped radio buttons - Moves selection Pressing these keys moves the focus to the next corresponding radio button in the group. The currently selected radio button does not change.
Ctrl + Arrow Keys When editing tiles in a container - Changes tile position Pressing these keys changes the position of the focused tile in the tile container. The remaining tiles are re-ordered accordingly.
F2

Toggles edit mode

You can toggle editing of an editable UI element like a input field or text area.

F7

Exits edit mode

When you are editing an input field in a table or a list, pressing this key will stop the editing and move the focus to the parent UI element.
Note

Pressing F7 again will move focus back to the editable element.