Shortcut keys for menu items (alt + letter). Is there any convention for namings ?

Question

Is there any official/unofficial/informal convention for alt+key namings ? maybe, Microsoft have some internal document for that thing. Different menu levels and so on ...

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2426/shortcutl.jpg

Answer 1

Typically, unless there are conflicts in a menu you want to pick the letter that corresponds to the most important word in the menu item. For instance, in the linked example, [A]bout Microsoft Visual Studio and Customer [F]eedback Options each use the letter of the most important part of the item (or what describes it best).

Certain combinations are fairly similar across most apps - for instance, most users expect Alt+F,S to be File -> Save, et cetera. These should be fairly obvious if you've used a couple of Windows applications.

Answer 2

Yes. Microsoft always provides "user guidelines" for an operating system.

Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511258.aspx.

• Access Keys at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511502.aspx#accessKeys
• Shortcut Keys at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511502.aspx#shortcutKeys
• Label [menu item names] at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511502.aspx#labels

Design Specifications and Guidelines - Visual Design at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997617.aspx.

Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications is helpful. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Manual_of_Style_for_Technical_Publications.