A multi-access key enables the user to freely choose the characteristics that are convenient to evaluate for the item to be identified.
Historically various styles of encoding features of species (such as flower color) on punch cards were used.
[4] The user of an interactive key may select or enter information about an unidentified specimen in any order, allowing the computer to interactively rule out possible identifications of the entity and present the user with additional helpful information and guidance on what information to enter next.
Full-featured interactive keys may readily be equipped with images, audio, video, supplemental text, much-simplified language in conjunction with technical language and hyperlinks to assist the user with understanding of both entities and features.
[5] With paper-based dichotomous keys, the discovery of a new species renders the key incomplete; interactive keys are easily updated by adding information for newly discovered species and releasing computer files through the internet.