Media Keyboard Shortcuts

WHAT IT DOES

Media Keyboard Shortcuts adds comprehensive keyboard controls to any HTML5 video or audio player on the page. Use the Space bar to play and pause, left/right arrow keys to seek backward and forward, up/down arrow keys to adjust volume, M to mute/unmute, and F to toggle fullscreen. Each action displays on-screen feedback showing what you just did—play, pause, volume percentage, seek amount, mute status, and fullscreen toggle. The shortcuts work across all media elements on the page, automatically detecting the currently playing or focused media. You can customize the seek step (1-60 seconds) and volume step (0.01-0.25) to match your preferences.

WHERE IT RUNS

The extension runs entirely within your browser's local environment using the BotGentz framework. All keyboard detection, media control, and feedback rendering occur on your machine without any network requests. No media data, shortcut settings, or user activity is ever transmitted, uploaded, or stored externally. The tool works on any website and respects the browser's security boundaries, operating within the isolated extension sandbox. Media playback uses the native HTML5 media API.

HOW TO USE

Click the extension toolbar icon to open the Media Keyboard Shortcuts panel. The panel shows a list of all available shortcuts and their actions. Toggle "Enable shortcuts" to turn the keyboard controls on or off. Toggle "Show feedback" to enable or disable the on-screen text display. Toggle "Enable fullscreen" to allow the F key to toggle fullscreen mode. Adjust the "Seek Step" to control how many seconds the arrow keys jump forward or backward (1-60 seconds). Adjust the "Volume Step" to control how much each volume key press changes the volume (0.01 to 0.25). The tool works automatically—when you're on a page with video or audio, the shortcuts are active. The active media element is detected automatically: if a video is playing, it receives the controls; if no media is playing, the first media element on the page is used. The feedback overlay appears at the bottom of the screen showing the action and value.

THE KEYBOARD SHORTCUT ENGINE — WHY IT WORKS

Most media keyboard shortcuts are built into specific players and don't work across different sites. This tool uses a global keyboard event listener that captures key presses and routes them to the appropriate media element. The engine determines the active media element by first checking if the currently focused element is a video or audio element, then falling back to the first playing media element, and finally defaulting to the first media element on the page. Each key press is mapped to a media control function: Space triggers play/pause by checking the paused property and calling play() or pause() accordingly. Arrow keys modify the currentTime property with the configured seek step. Arrow up/down modify the volume property with the configured volume step. M toggles the muted property, and F triggers fullscreen using requestFullscreen on the media element or document. The feedback system uses a fixed-position overlay with opacity transitions that displays a text description and auto-dismisses after 1.5 seconds.

THE PANEL

The Media Keyboard Shortcuts panel is fully draggable by its title bar and remembers its position on screen per website. It snaps to the edges of your browser window for clean alignment. Collapse the panel to a compact icon strip using the minimize button, restoring it with a single click. Resize the panel by dragging any edge or corner; the shortcut list and settings adjust proportionally. Press the Escape key to close the panel instantly. The panel maintains independent state for each browser tab, allowing you to use media shortcuts in multiple tabs simultaneously.

PLEASE NOTE

This extension requires the free BotGentz extension framework to be installed and enabled. The tool controls HTML5 video and audio elements only; media using Flash, Silverlight, or other plugins are not supported. Some websites may capture keyboard events and prevent shortcuts from working. The Space key shortcut may conflict with page scrolling on some sites; the tool prevents the default behavior to ensure reliable playback control. All shortcut data is processed locally and is never transmitted, logged, or shared. The extension requests no network permissions and functions entirely offline. The source code is fully auditable and available for review.