keyboardenabled

keyboardenabled is a term used in software design to denote a boolean state indicating whether a given component, window, or application should process keyboard input. When the flag is true, the component actively listens for and handles keyboard events; when false, keyboard handling is suppressed or delegated to other parts of the system. This flag can be used to implement modal dialogs, multi-step forms, or touch-first interfaces where on-screen controls replace hardware keyboard input.

In practice, keyboardenabled is not a universal standard across programming languages, but the concept appears in many architectures: a component’s event loop may check keyboardenabled before registering keydown handlers, or input routing may prioritize or skip keyboard events based on the flag. In web development, developers often implement similar behavior by conditionally attaching or detaching key event listeners, or by managing focus and input sources to reflect the current interaction mode.

Implementation notes: toggling keyboardenabled should be paired with appropriate focus management and accessibility considerations, such as ensuring that focus remains within a dialog and that screen readers receive correct context. When keyboard input is disabled, consider providing alternative navigation methods (on-screen controls or touch gestures) to maintain usability. Security and privacy implications include ensuring that the state cannot be exploited to capture or leak input in unintended ways.

See also: keyboard focus, focus trapping, keyboard shortcut, accessibility, input handling.