Bugzilla

(In reply to Alessandro Castellani (:aleca) from comment #12)
> I think we should also start considering a more strict approach for those accesskey as we've been adding them everywhere.
> It think `Alt+...` should be strictly used for Menu Bar items.

Alt+* only for menu bar items might be the automatical result of moving our code to HTML, where using the access key attribute effects Alt+Shift+* access keys by default (on Windows). We're currently in an unannounced phase of transition, with a bit of chaos and confusion. Executive summary: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1661679#c6

> For UI elements, dedicated shortcuts with a consistent modifier should be used and showed in the tooltips.

Anything which has a permanently visible string in the UI should preferably get an access key, not a shortcut key.
Exceptions may confirm the rule. You'll run out of shortcut keys very fast if you also give them to UI elements with a visible string.
Sometimes there maybe there's a bit of room for rethinking this (as the current patch does, sort of), but trust me, that room will be very small.

> With that we can also remove the ugly underscore letter in the UI, which should only be used in the menu items.

The ugly underscore is actually extremely helpful for efficient navigation. I'd much prefer a little ugly over less efficient, more so that one of the main reasons for using Thunderbird is ux-efficiency. I don't find the modern alternative, showing access key tooltips only when you press ALT key, very useful, but ymmv. (Try pressing Alt key in Windows explorer or probably any modern MS Office app to see that in action).

Anyway, we're digressing. I suggest to get this bug done first before we go into general design discussions... ;-)

(In reply to Alessandro Castellani (:aleca) from comment #12)
> I think we should also start considering a more strict approach for those accesskey as we've been adding them everywhere.
> It think `Alt+...` should be strictly used for Menu Bar items.

Alt+* only for menu bar items might be the automatical result of moving our code to HTML, where using the access key attribute effects Alt+Shift+* access keys by default (on Windows). We're currently in an unannounced phase of transition, with a bit of chaos and confusion. Executive summary: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1661679#c6

> For UI elements, dedicated shortcuts with a consistent modifier should be used and showed in the tooltips.

Anything which has a permanently visible string in the UI should preferably get an access key, not a shortcut key.
Exceptions may confirm the rule. You'll run out of shortcut keys very fast if you also give them to UI elements with a visible string.
Sometimes maybe there's a bit of room for rethinking this (as the current patch does, sort of), but trust me, that room will be very small.

> With that we can also remove the ugly underscore letter in the UI, which should only be used in the menu items.

The ugly underscore is actually extremely helpful for efficient navigation. I'd much prefer a little ugly over less efficient, more so that one of the main reasons for using Thunderbird is ux-efficiency. I don't find the modern alternative, showing access key tooltips only when you press ALT key, very useful, but ymmv. (Try pressing Alt key in Windows explorer or probably any modern MS Office app to see that in action).

Anyway, we're digressing. I suggest to get this bug done first before we go into general design discussions... ;-)

(In reply to Alessandro Castellani (:aleca) from comment #12)
> I think we should also start considering a more strict approach for those accesskey as we've been adding them everywhere.
> It think `Alt+...` should be strictly used for Menu Bar items.

Alt+* only for menu bar items might be the automatical result of moving our code to HTML, where using the access key attribute effects Alt+Shift+* access keys by default (on Windows). We're currently in an unannounced phase of transition, with a bit of chaos and confusion. Executive summary: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1661679#c6

> For UI elements, dedicated shortcuts with a consistent modifier should be used and showed in the tooltips.

Anything which has a permanently visible string in the UI should preferably get an access key, not a shortcut key.
Exceptions may confirm the rule. You'll run out of shortcut keys very fast if you also give them to UI elements with a visible string.
Sometimes maybe there's a bit of room for rethinking this (as the current patch does, sort of), but trust me, that room will be very small.

> With that we can also remove the ugly underscore letter in the UI, which should only be used in the menu items.

The ugly underscore is actually extremely helpful for efficient navigation. I'd much prefer a little ugly over less efficient, more so that one of the main reasons for using Thunderbird is ux-efficiency. I don't find the modern alternative, showing access key tooltips only when you press ALT key, all that attractive, but ymmv. (Try pressing Alt key in Windows explorer or probably any modern MS Office app to see that in action).

Anyway, we're digressing. I suggest to get this bug done first before we go into general design discussions... ;-)