From 786e4624b806445951e006f78fb51e986482becb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "google-labs-jules[bot]"
 <161369871+google-labs-jules[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:33:43 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?=F0=9F=8E=A8=20Palette:=20Add=20semantic=20styl?=
 =?UTF-8?q?ing=20to=20keyboard=20shortcuts?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Co-authored-by: EiJackGH <172181576+EiJackGH@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 .Jules/palette.md        |  4 ++++
 src/views/mario-game.njk | 17 ++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.Jules/palette.md b/.Jules/palette.md
index 49b0751..13a46d1 100644
--- a/.Jules/palette.md
+++ b/.Jules/palette.md
@@ -19,3 +19,7 @@
 ## 2024-08-06 - Screen Reader Accessible Dynamic Text
 **Learning:** Dynamic text changes, like game scores, are invisible to screen readers unless explicitly marked. Do not place static text (like instructions) inside an `aria-live` region, as it forces screen readers to unnecessarily repeat the static text every time the dynamic content updates. Extract static text into a separate sibling element.
 **Action:** Add `aria-live="polite"` to the container of the dynamic value and extract static text out of it.
+
+## 2026-08-11 - Semantic Keyboard Instructions
+**Learning:** Explicitly highlighting keyboard shortcuts using semantic `<kbd>` tags with physical key styling improves intuitiveness and discoverability. Always wrap key shortcuts in `<kbd>` and apply text-shadows to ensure high contrast against dynamic backgrounds.
+**Action:** Use `<kbd>` tags with a standardized CSS class for all inline keyboard shortcut instructions to visually distinguish them as actionable physical keys.
diff --git a/src/views/mario-game.njk b/src/views/mario-game.njk
index c84e3f2..8e20257 100644
--- a/src/views/mario-game.njk
+++ b/src/views/mario-game.njk
@@ -62,6 +62,21 @@
       font-family: Arial;
       pointer-events: none;
     }
+
+    kbd {
+      background-color: #eee;
+      border-radius: 3px;
+      border: 1px solid #b4b4b4;
+      box-shadow: 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2), 0 2px 0 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7) inset;
+      color: #333;
+      display: inline-block;
+      font-size: 0.85em;
+      font-weight: 700;
+      line-height: 1;
+      padding: 2px 4px;
+      white-space: nowrap;
+      text-shadow: 0 1px 0 #fff;
+    }
   </style>
 </head>
 
@@ -69,7 +84,7 @@
 
 <div id="game">
   <div id="score-container">Score: <span id="score-value" aria-live="polite">0</span></div>
-  <div id="instructions">Press Space or ↑ to jump!</div>
+  <div id="instructions">Press <kbd>Space</kbd> or <kbd>↑</kbd> to jump!</div>
   <div id="mario"></div>
   <div class="ground"></div>
 </div>