I haven't been following this thread so take this with a grain of salt,
but I count key-chords as single keys -- since they can all be pressed
in a single motion, which would mean

| C-M-a   | 1 key press   |
| C-c C-a | 2 key presses |

but maybe my hands are just too accustomed to typing in Emacs and it's
skewing my perception.

Best -- Eric