METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING ACCESS TO SELECTABLE ELEMENTS ON A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

In one embodiment the present invention provides a method of selecting a selectable element with a character input device from a list of exically unordered selectable elements on a graphical user interface (GUI). Typically, these selectable elements include hypertext links and GUI buttons on the GUI of computer program executing on a computer system. Each selectable element includes a character portion of data which facilitates selecting the selectable element. The method typically begins the selection process when a user enters one or more characters from a character input device. In response to receiving the characters, the present invention inserts each character into a match string. The match string is then compared with the character portion of each selectable element on the GUI. A selectable element is "armed" when the character portion of a selectable element is found which matches the match string. Arming a selectable element prepares the element for selection and typically involves highlighting, underlining or otherwise distinguishing the hypertext link from other text on a page. The user can then select the armed selectable element by actuating the "enter" key. If a hypertext selectable element is selected then the information associated with a destination node (e.g., a web page) is displayed for the user. Instead of selecting the armed selectable element, the user may search for a different selectable element by entering additional characters and not actuating the "enter" key. The method disclosed provides an improved selection method over prior methods because a user can quickly search and select a selectable element by typing a minimum number of characters.