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Keyboard

This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The Keyboard interface of the the Keyboard API provides functions that retrieve keyboard layout maps and toggle capturing of key presses from the physical keyboard.

A list of valid code values is found in the UI Events KeyboardEvent code Values spec.

Properties

None.

Methods

Keyboard.getLayoutMap()
Returns a Promise that resolves with an instance of KeyboardLayoutMap which is a map-like object with fucntions for retrieving the strings associated with specific physical keys.
Keyboard.lock()
Returns a Promise after enabling the capture of keypresses for any or all of the keys on the physical keyboard.
Keyboard.unlock()
Unlocks all keys captured by the lock() method and returns synchronously.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to get the location- or layout-specific string associated with the key that corresponds to the 'W' key on an English QWERTY keyboard.

if (navigator.keyboard) {
  var keyboard = navigator.keyboard;
  keyboard.getLayoutMap()
  .then(keyboardLayoutMap => {
    var upKey = keyboardLayoutMap.get('KeyW');
    window.alert('Press ' + upKey + ' to move up.');
  });
} else {
  // Do something else.
}

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Keyboard Map
The definition of 'Keyboard' in that specification.
Editor's Draft Initial definition.
Keyboard Lock
The definition of 'Keyboard' in that specification.
Editor's Draft Adds lock() and unlock().

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

Desktop
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 68 No No No 55 No
getLayoutMap 69 No No No 56 No
lock 68 No No No 55 No
unlock 68 No No No 55 No
Mobile
Android webview Chrome for Android Edge Mobile Firefox for Android Opera for Android iOS Safari Samsung Internet
Basic support No No No No No No No
getLayoutMap No No No No No No No
lock No No No No No No No
unlock No No No No No No No

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Keyboard