Designing for keyboard-first reading
Students triage mail fast. Every action in our dashboard has a shortcut and a visible focus state.
Why shortcuts, not gestures
A keyboard shortcut is discoverable, documentable and testable. A gesture is none of those things.
The map
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / k | Next / previous message |
e | Archive |
s | Star |
u | Mark unread |
# | Delete |
/ | Focus search |
Focus is a feature
Every interactive element carries a visible ring. We never remove the outline without replacing it with something stronger.
.focus-ring:focus-visible {
outline: 2px solid var(--ring);
outline-offset: 2px;
}Testing it
We run the whole triage flow with the mouse unplugged before every release. If a task cannot be completed from the keyboard, it is a bug.
About the author
InstantEduMail Editorial Team
Editorial Team
Guides on temporary email, deliverability and email testing, written and reviewed by the InstantEduMail team against primary sources. Read our editorial policy for how we research, review and correct content.
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