Menus often offer keyboard accelerators, key combinations that have the same effect as selecting the menu item.

This allows more expert users, familiar with the system, to manipulate things with-out moving off the keyboard, which is often faster.

The accelerators are often displayed alongside the menu items so that frequent use makes them familiar.

Unfortunately most systems do not allow you to use the accelerators while the menu is displayed. So, for example. the menu might say

However when the user presses function key F3 nothing happens. F3 only works when the menu is not displayed- when the menu is there you must press ‘F’ instead.