Who Says Design Needs a Mouse? | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma is introducing keyboard accessibility features to make end-to-end design possible without a mouse. Developed with feedback from keyboard- and screen-reader users, the updates improve canvas navigation, object insertion, and selection while providing better spoken feedback. The goal is to remove barriers so more designers can participate fully in design work.

Keyboard-Only Canvas Navigation

• Users can pan across the canvas with the arrow keys.
• Holding Shift enables faster movement or scrolling.
• New shortcuts provide finer zoom control and access to the move and hand tools.
• These changes address problems such as getting stuck at the top of the canvas or zooming into the wrong area.

Inserting Objects Without a Mouse

• Most object types, including shapes and text, can now be added using the keyboard.
• Frames can be inserted with keyboard shortcuts through a crosshair-guided view.
• Pressing Enter places text in the center of the current screen.

Selecting and Positioning Objects

• A keyboard box-selection tool allows users to select objects on the canvas.
• Arrow keys move a pink cursor between objects.
• Pressing Enter selects the object under the cursor.
• Multiple objects can be selected using a selection box.

Broader Accessibility Improvements

• Enhanced screen-reader support announces actions as users work, helping them stay oriented.
• Figma’s accessibility efforts also include a color-picker contrast checker for evaluating WCAG compliance.
• Semantic HTML tags can be assigned in designs to support products that work better with screen readers.
• Figma emphasizes accessibility as an ongoing commitment rather than a one-time checklist.

Users can consult Figma’s help center for instructions on using the new keyboard controls and enabling screen-reader support.