Question: In our (web) application, we want tooltips (read: title attributes) that also indicate shortcuts for buttons. We have some button that involve the cursor ('arrow') keys. 

We've tried using characters like ⬅ and ←, but they just don't look right. We've also tried spelling it out, e.g. "Left Arrow Key", but that's a bit verbose.

What's a good way to do this?

Answer: 
Maybe you could try a dingbat font with actual keyboard keys? Something like this:

![alt text](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2bxjj.png)
What's wrong with your first icon? It looks almost perfect, to me. Of course, it would be better to see it in the context of your other 'key shortcut' icons, but it looks very much like it will convey the important info., namely 'this is the left cursor key'.

If you want to be extra clear, you could colour it beige according to the fact that it's the most likely colour of the key the user will press. Maybe some shading and reshaping of the icon would help to emphasise its 'key-ness'.