On Firefox you need to use the "Alt+Shift" modifier for addressing an access key on a webpage, so I'm not sure whether you can set the access key to a shifted character like '#' unless Chrome also uses Alt+Shift.

How does this access key show in the Inspector?

• https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/page_inspector/how_to/examine_and_edit_html/

You could possibly use a bookmarklet to modify this access key.

javascript:(function(){document.querySelector('<selector>').setAttribute('accesskey','.')})()

@cor-el: On a German QUERTZ keyboard, Alt+# does not involve the shift key. Instead, the # key is next to the Enter key. See https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:KB_Germany.svg

As for the JavaScript, I am not sure how to use the snippet you provided. How do I get the <selector>?

@cor-el

The German keyboard has a # key, so Alt+# does not involve the shift key. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:KB_Germany.svg

The rest of your answer isn't clear to me. What should I look at in the inspector?

Sorry for the late reply.

I see this issue was mentioned in 2018 (not clear what browser was involved): https://superuser.com/questions/1376649/how-to-do-the-shortcut-alt-on-a-german-keyboard

Websites typically intercept keystrokes by looking for specific characters. I would be a little surprised if Google used a different script for different browsers, but otherwise the difference in behavior is difficult to explain. (Google's scripts are notoriously complex and when I started looking, Firefox crashed, so I'm not going to keep looking.)

Or does Chrome automatically remap the key combination on some sites or all sites? I have a test page that tells you what keys it received, so you can compare Alt+# in different browsers:

https://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/keyvents.html

@jscher2000

I tried your script and I get in Firefox:

   keydown => event.key: "#" + Alt{charCode: 0; keyCode: 163; which: 163; code: Backslash}
   keyup => event.key: "#" + Alt{charCode: 0; keyCode: 163; which: 163; code: Backslash}

In Chrome:

   keydown => event.key: "#" + Alt{charCode: 0; keyCode: 191; which: 191; code: Backslash}
   keyup => event.key: "#" + Alt{charCode: 0; keyCode: 191; which: 191; code: Backslash}

So there seems to be some difference in the numeric keyCode field.

I attached a table of keycodes. It looks like Chrome binds the key by "keyCode", which matches across Chrome and Firefox for the US keyboard layout, but not for a German layout, instead of using the symbolic "code" field.

As a result, "Alt+#" works by chance on Chrome with a German keyboard, because it matches the keyCode of "Alt+/" on a US layout. In Firefox, this similarity does not happen, so the hotkey fails.

So, clearly a Google Docs bug, that cripples Google Docs for non-US keyboards and just happens (?) to preserve a very important hotkey in the case of Chrome.

__________________________________________________ Table as source code table:

   | Character             | KeyCode
   | DE Layout | US Layout | DE Layout                                          | US Layout                                          |
   |           |           | Firefox                  | Chrome                  | Firefox                  | Chrome                  |
   |-----------+-----------+-----------+--------------+----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+----------+--------------|
   | ,         | ,         | 188         Comma        | 188/ 44*   Comma        | 188/ 44*    Comma        | 188/ 44*   Comma        |
   | .         | .         | 190         Period       | 190/ 46*   Period       | 190/ 46*    Period       | 190/ 46*   Period       |
   | -         | /         | 173/ 45*    Slash        | 189/ 45*   Slash        ||191/ 47*    Slash        ||191/ 47*   Slash       ||   |||
   | ö         | ;         | 59/246*     Semicolon    | 192/246*   Semicolon    | 59/ 59*     Semicolon    | 186/ 59*   Semicolon    |
   | ä         | '         | 222/228*    Quote        | 222/228*   Quote        | 222/ 39*    Quote        | 222/ 39*   Quote        |
   | #         | \         | 163/ 35*    Backslash    ||191/ 35*   Backslash   || 92/ 92*     Backslash    | 220/ 92*   Backslash    |   |||
   | ü         | [         | 219/252*    BracketLeft  | 186/252*   BracketLeft  | 91/ 91*     BracketLeft  | 219/ 91*   BracketLeft  |
   | +         | ]         | 171/ 43*    BracketRight | 187/ 43*   BracketRight | 221/ 93*    BracketRight | 221/ 93*   BracketRight |
                                                       |||||||||||||||||||||||||                            |||||||||||||||||||||||||

   * A/B* means that keydown, keyup have keyCode A, but keypress has keyCode B
   | Extra | signs mark the involved cell entries.

There's an alternative shortcut for menu search, Alt+Shift+Z, that works on German keyboards.

Wow, great research. keyCode is a "deprecated" property that site are supposed to transition away from (keyCode on MDN), but with the number of things developers have to fix, it probably is not a priority.

Hopefully Ctrl+Shift+Z Alt+Shift+Z is a suitable workaround. Otherwise, I think someone would need to find a way to connect Alt+# to the same function as Alt+/ on Google Docs.

> Hopefully Alt+Shift+Z is a suitable workaround. Otherwise, I think someone would need to find a way to connect Alt+# to the same function as Alt+/ on Google Docs.

It does work. Did you find it out based on the listed keycodes?

Edit. Never mind, saw the original alternate-shortcut reply only later. Though curiously, on my home device (Chrome), the alternate shortcut is listed as Alt+Z, and was promptly conflicting with the "delete element" shortcut of uBlock Origin...