Upgrade StorageUX and keyboard accessibility
Hi,
When we use software in conjunction with a screen reader, we often have to use the tab key to navigate from item to item. However, a library item can have lots of fields and it can take quite a while to navigate to the desired section using this method, for example if there is an book chapter with many authors, navigating to the title of the book containing the chapter requires lots of tabbing. It would be great if there were a faster method to navigate between different sections of a library entry. Maybe if it is a journal article or book chapter, the first section could be item title and authors, the second could start at journal title, the third could be URL, then extras and so forth.
Maybe it is possible already and I just don't know about it. However, if not, I think this would be an accessibility improvement, because in Zotero 7 there are even more fields we can navigate to using the tab key. This is great, because it means that more UI elements are now accessible to us, but it also means more tabbing around to find what we are looking for.
Thank you for your great work.
When we use software in conjunction with a screen reader, we often have to use the tab key to navigate from item to item. However, a library item can have lots of fields and it can take quite a while to navigate to the desired section using this method, for example if there is an book chapter with many authors, navigating to the title of the book containing the chapter requires lots of tabbing. It would be great if there were a faster method to navigate between different sections of a library entry. Maybe if it is a journal article or book chapter, the first section could be item title and authors, the second could start at journal title, the third could be URL, then extras and so forth.
Maybe it is possible already and I just don't know about it. However, if not, I think this would be an accessibility improvement, because in Zotero 7 there are even more fields we can navigate to using the tab key. This is great, because it means that more UI elements are now accessible to us, but it also means more tabbing around to find what we are looking for.
Thank you for your great work.
For example, when entering a book chapter with multiple authors, it can take dozens of keystrokes just to reach the container title or publication information. This isn't just an inconvenience. It adds real fatigue when you're working through many references in a session.
A possible solution might be to introduce a shortcut that cycles through “sections” of metadata (e.g., creators → title → publication info → identifiers → notes/extras). That way, users could still tab within a section if needed, but also skip over large blocks when they don’t. Even a single “jump to next section” hotkey would make a big difference.
I really appreciate the work that’s gone into making more of Zotero’s interface accessible, and I hope this can be the next step. It would be a huge quality‑of‑life improvement for those of us who depend on keyboard navigation.
I do use the Zotero 8 beta, so please let me know if something like this has been added already. I would also be happy to test any additions and provide feedback.