# Behind the scenes: international keyboard shortcuts

DevFeed: [Behind the scenes: international keyboard shortcuts](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/behind-the-scenes-international-keyboard-shortcuts-9529.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.figma.com/blog/behind-the-scenes-international-keyboard-shortcuts/>)

Author: Dorothy Chen

Published: 2023-02-28T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Figma Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/figma-blog.md>)

Topics: [Figma](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/figma.md>), [Accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/accessibility.md>), [browser](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/browser.md>), [JSON](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/json.md>), [Usability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/usability.md>), [bug](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/bug.md>), [Operating system](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/operating-system.md>)

Tags: [accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/accessibility.md>), [browser](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/browser.md>), [bug](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bug.md>), [figma](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/figma.md>), [json](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/json.md>), [mapping](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mapping.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [software-engineer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineer.md>), [ui](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ui.md>), [usability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/usability.md>), [workflows](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/workflows.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains how Figma's Editor Usability team redesigned keyboard shortcut handling for international keyboards. It describes browser key events, translation into editor-readable input, JSON-defined shortcut mappings, and action selection based on user and product state, including preferences, product context, and operating system. The effort addressed accessibility and bug reports involving keyboards that lacked keys used by Figma's original US-centric shortcuts.

## Source excerpt

"We were tasked with making Figma shortcuts friendlier to international keyboards, a charter that would take us on a twisty journey through the next year."