Yes, Hidden Numbers Game can be completed from start to finish with a keyboard or screen reader, and the result still totals the exact maximum score of 1,000 points. The puzzle exposes a single focusable scanner that walks through a five-by-four logical grid with the Arrow keys, then accepts the focused cell with Enter or Space. Every visible number on each of the five Canvas scenes is reachable through that one scanner; the underlying Canvas element is marked hidden from assistive technology because the scanner supplies the equivalent interactive description. Pointer taps, touch taps, and arrow-key selections all funnel through the same selection reducer, so a run that finishes entirely without a mouse still clears every board for the same 200 points and reaches the same terminal 1,000-point score. The hidden geometry that sighted players scan on the Canvas is not exposed as a list of answer coordinates, and no individual number is rendered as a separate DOM node, so a screen reader user is never handed the entire solution map while still being able to play the full game.
How Keyboard Play Works in Hidden Numbers Game
The five authored boards grow from four visible numbers to eight, and each scene places those numbers in unique cells of one fixed five-column by four-row logical scan grid. The game draws the scene with Canvas lines, rectangles, ellipses, and circles generated locally; nothing is loaded from a stock library, an illustration, or a screenshot. Because the Canvas contains the visual representation that a sighted player searches, the implementation marks it hidden from assistive technology and replaces it with a single focusable scanner whose accessible name, role, and value describe only the focused cell. The production fixture stores each number as an opaque word identifier paired with its visible value and its logical cell; those identifiers contain no digits, no round numbers, no ordinal labels, no value, and no coordinate encoding, so the underlying data does not leak the solution. Arrow keys move the scanner outline visibly and move the focus from cell to cell, while Enter or Space calls the same selection function that a pointer tap would call at the corresponding logical coordinate.
How to Complete a Board Using Only a Keyboard
Follow these steps to clear any single scene from start to finish without touching a mouse, using Hidden Numbers Game in your browser.
- Focus the scanner when the page loads. The scanner remains the only interactive element tied to progress.
- Read or listen for the current row, column, and whether the focused cell already holds a visible number. The Find next panel always shows the only value currently accepted.
- Press the Arrow keys to move the scanner outline through the five-by-four grid in fixed steps.
- Stop when the announced cell describes the location you want to check. The label tells you whether a visible number sits there.
- Press Enter or Space to enter the focused cell as your current selection. The selection function then runs the same audit a pointer press would run.
- Read the feedback. A correct selection advances the required value, updates the Find next panel, and moves the scanner focus onward. An incorrect selection uses the same deterministic error system a pointer tap on empty space or on an out-of-sequence number would use.
- Continue in strict ascending order from 1 until the board clears, then advance to the next of the five scenes. Each cleared board adds exactly 200 points; finishing all five yields the maximum score of 1,000.
What the Screen Reader Announces at Each Cell
The scanner's accessible name is one source of dynamic information during play. It does not read out the entire answer set, nor does it expose the logical coordinates of every correct cell, so a screen reader user is not handed the solution map. Instead, the label describes the focused cell and the puzzle state around it. Pressing an Arrow key reannounces the new label, and pressing Enter or Space checks the current cell and produces the same deterministic error response as a pointer tap on empty space or an out-of-sequence number. Independent tests verify that the announced label matches the logical cell in every direction and stays in sync after a correct or incorrect selection.
| Aspect of play | What assistive technology announces | What is deliberately hidden |
|---|---|---|
| Current cell position | Row and column of the focused scanner cell | The full list of cell coordinates on the board |
| Cell contents | Whether the focused cell holds a visible number | The numeric value of every other cell |
| Required next value | The single value currently accepted by the Find next panel | The complete ordered list of values for the scene |
| Outcome of Enter or Space | Underlying selection logic and detailed error state | |
| End of board |
Why the Canvas Is Marked Hidden
Marking the Canvas hidden is not a workaround for missing accessibility; it is the design that makes the whole game operable without a mouse while refusing to publish a hidden DOM map of the entire solution. If the Canvas were exposed to assistive technology as a regular graphic, a screen reader would describe the painted geometry and the visible numbers in place, which on its own does not let a non-sighted player choose a cell. Exposing every number as its own button or its own labelled element would solve that, but it would also publish the complete answer layout for any reader who can read the page source. The scanner replaces that exposure with a single focus target that walks the grid progressively, lets Enter or Space commit a selection, and describes only the cell the scanner is currently on. The same logic holds for production: the source code does not contain answer-bearing element IDs, per-number test IDs, coordinate data attributes, CSS classes named after correct values, hidden solution lists, or production solve buttons, so the underlying markup cannot be used as a shortcut to the answer.
Pointer, Touch, and Keyboard Reduce to One Selection
The three input paths converge at the same reducer, which is why the maximum score stays at 1,000 regardless of how a player chooses to interact. Pointer and touch input are converted from the displayed canvas size into the fixed 360-by-240 logical coordinate system that the fixture uses; the game then finds the nearest unfinished number within a 26-pixel logical radius and accepts the press if and only if the same cell would pass a pointer test. Empty space and an out-of-sequence number feed the same deterministic error system that keyboard selections use, so tapping the wrong spot and pressing Enter on the wrong cell produce the same feedback. Independent tests verify that completing all five scenes through keyboard cells and through pointer coordinates yields the same terminal state, with both routes producing an exact 1,000-point finish.
| Input path | Mechanism on the page | Precision behavior | Hit or selection unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mouse or pointer | Click on the visible Canvas | Coordinates converted into the fixed 360 by 240 logical grid | 26-pixel logical radius (52-pixel diameter) |
| Touch on a phone | Tap on the visible Canvas | Same converter and same audit; scales down on a small display | 26-pixel logical radius (52-pixel diameter) |
| Keyboard only | Tab to the scanner, Arrow keys to move, Enter or Space to check | Walks the five-by-four grid one cell at a time | Whole logical cell, marked with a visible outline |
Score, Timing, and Input Method Independence
Score is a fixed function of completed sequences, not of how quickly or with which input a player reaches them. Each cleared board adds exactly 200 points, and the only way to finish at the maximum 1,000 is to clear every one of the five fixed boards in strict ascending numeric order. Speed, browser timing, device performance, pointer precision, and input method are deliberately excluded from the scoring rule, and there is no countdown or reaction bonus, so a player who pauses between searches, who zooms the page, or who walks the scanner slowly loses nothing. One distinct mistake is still repairable: the failure signature combines the current scene with the selected logical cell, and repeating the same unchanged wrong choice does not add another miss. A second distinct wrong selection closes the run. Correct scene completion clears prior failure history before the next board begins, and completion or deadlock freezes pointer, keyboard, scoring, and scene transitions until Restart restores the exact opening state.
The full five-board route is operable from the keyboard alone, the screen reader receives a stable description of the focused cell, and the maximum score remains 1,000. The live build is at Hidden Numbers Game, where the scanner, the Find next panel, and the Restart action are all reachable without a mouse.