The draft HTML5 spec is contradictory on whether user agents can map shortcuts to unmodified keys. The example in 7.4.2 (The accesskey attribute) says that a user agent can use a key unmodified, but 7.4.3 (Processing model) says the user agent can assign its choice of "a combination of modifier keys" but does not specify that no modifier key is a valid option.

Some components use unmodified letters, numbers, and punctuation marks as keyboard command. This can be handy for users who want to make keyboard input as efficient as possible, including some users with disabilities, but for other users with disabilities it can be a significant problem because everyday text input can trigger a large number of seemingly random actions if it's entered in the wrong context. Therefore user agents should be permitted to make this available as a user option.

    * Use case: Tom uses speech recognition to input text and commands, and he's working in a Web-based word processor while in the background another Web app or browser add-in is downloading a large file. He's in the middle of dictating a letter the background task steals the activation to notify him that the download has completed. Suddenly the text that was supposed to go into a letter is interpreted in the new context as dozens of commands. Tom looks at the browser and finds that his project in that context has been altered or deleted altogether, and also that display options have changed and he has no idea what command would server to restore them. This is bad. Instead, Tom should be able to go into his browser's preference settings and clear a check box to disable the use of unmodified keys as commands and shortcuts. When the Web app starts up, it asks the browser whether the letter "u" is available as a shortcut and is told that it is restricted by policy. Therefore the app goes down its list of preferred keystrokes, determines that Ctrl+U is available, and configures itself to use that instead. It may even display an indicator on its status bar warning the user that non-default keyboard commands are being used. The user can then go into the app's configuration screen to find out the current keybindings.