diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index d16a029..2bc251a 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
-[ -z $EM_DIR] && EM_DIR=~/src/emscripten
+[ -z "$EM_DIR" ] && EM_DIR=~/src/emscripten
+
+OPTZ="-Oz -O3"
 
 do_config() {
     echo config
 # something wrong with emcc + cproto, use gcc as CPP instead
-CPPFLAGS="-Os -DFEAT_GUI_WEB" \
-CPP="gcc -E" \
+CPPFLAGS="$OPTZ -DFEAT_GUI_WEB" \
+CFLAGS="$OPTZ" \
+CPP="emcc -E" \
 $EM_DIR/emconfigure ./configure \
     --enable-gui=web \
     --with-features=small \
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ $EM_DIR/emconfigure ./configure \
 }
 
 do_make() {
-$EM_DIR/emmake make -j8
+$EM_DIR/emmake make CFLAGS="$OPTZ" -j8
 }
 
 do_link() {
@@ -58,7 +61,7 @@ cat vim_lib.js | sed -e "1 s/\(foldmethod\|foldmarker\)[^ ]\+//g" > usr/local/sh
 # Use vim.js as filename to generate vim.js.mem
 $EM_DIR/emcc vim.bc \
     -o vim.js \
-    -Oz \
+    $OPTZ \
     --memory-init-file 1 \
     --js-library vim_lib.js \
     -s ASYNCIFY=1 \
diff --git a/web/usr/local/share/vim/vimrc b/web/usr/local/share/vim/vimrc
index 39cf7e4..b99c257 100644
--- a/web/usr/local/share/vim/vimrc
+++ b/web/usr/local/share/vim/vimrc
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ set wildmenu
 set tabstop=4
 set expandtab
 set nocompatible
+set encoding=utf8
+set termencoding=utf8
 set fileencodings=utf8
 set backspace=indent,eol,start
 set wildmode=longest,list,full
diff --git a/web/vim_lib.js b/web/vim_lib.js
index 0792b28..ec9877c 100644
--- a/web/vim_lib.js
+++ b/web/vim_lib.js
@@ -86,13 +86,27 @@ var LibraryVIM = {
       if(charCode == 0) {
         var special = vimjs.special_keys[keyCode];
         if(special !== undefined) {
-          vimjs.gui_web_handle_key(charCode || keyCode, modifiers, special.charCodeAt(0), special.charCodeAt(1));
+          vimjs.gui_web_handle_key(keyCode, modifiers, special.charCodeAt(0), special.charCodeAt(1));
           handled = true;
-        } 
+        } else {
+          vimjs.gui_web_handle_key(keyCode, modifiers, 0, 0);
+          handled = true;
+        }
       }
 
-      if(!handled)
-        vimjs.gui_web_handle_key(charCode || keyCode, modifiers, 0, 0);
+      if(!handled) {
+        var MAX_UTF8_BYTES = 6;
+        var chars = new Uint8Array(MAX_UTF8_BYTES + 1); // null-terminated
+        var charLen = stringToUTF8Array(String.fromCharCode(charCode), chars, 0, MAX_UTF8_BYTES);
+        if (charLen == 1) {
+          vimjs.gui_web_handle_key(chars[0], 0, 0, 0);
+        } else {
+          // no modifers for UTF-8, should be handled in chars already
+          for (var i = 0; i < charLen; i++) {
+            vimjs.gui_web_handle_key(chars[i], 0, 0, 0);
+          }
+        }
+      }
 
     },//VIMJS_FOLD_END
 
@@ -685,6 +699,7 @@ var LibraryVIM = {
      * C means "needed for Chrome"
      */
     var keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown = {};
+    var ctrl_keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown = {};
     [ KeyEvent.DOM_VK_ESCAPE, // CF
       KeyEvent.DOM_VK_TAB, // C
       KeyEvent.DOM_VK_BACK_SPACE, // C 
@@ -695,14 +710,24 @@ var LibraryVIM = {
       KeyEvent.DOM_VK_DELETE, // C
       KeyEvent.DOM_VK_PAGE_UP, // C
       KeyEvent.DOM_VK_PAGE_DOWN, // C
+      KeyEvent.DOM_VK_HOME, // C
+      KeyEvent.DOM_VK_END, // C
     ].forEach(function(k) {
       keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown[k] = 1;
     });
+    [
+      KeyEvent.DOM_VK_F,
+      KeyEvent.DOM_VK_B,
+    ].forEach(function(k) {
+      ctrl_keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown[k] = 1;
+    });
+                                
 
     /* capture some special keys that won't trigger 'keypress' */
     document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) {
       if (ignoreKeys()) return true;
-      if(e.keyCode in keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown)  {
+      if((e.keyCode in keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown) ||
+        (e.ctrlKey && (e.keyCode in ctrl_keys_to_intercept_upon_keydown)))  {
         e.preventDefault();
         vimjs.handle_key(0, e.keyCode, e);
       }
@@ -778,7 +803,15 @@ var LibraryVIM = {
   },
 
   vimjs_draw_string__deps: ['vimjs_clear_block'],
-  vimjs_draw_string: function(row, col, s, len, flags) {
+  vimjs_draw_string: function(row, col, s_ptr, len, flags) {
+    var byteArray = [];
+    for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+      c = getValue(s_ptr + i, 'i8', true);
+      byteArray.push(c);
+    }
+    byteArray.push(0);
+    var s = UTF8ArrayToString(byteArray, 0);
+    len = s.length;
 
     // TODO: use macros for flag constants
     if(!(flags & 0x01)) {
@@ -788,8 +821,6 @@ var LibraryVIM = {
     var font = vimjs.font;
     if(flags & 0x02) font = 'bold ' + font;
 
-    s = Pointer_stringify(s, len);
-
     var ctx = vimjs.canvas_ctx;
 
     ctx.font = font;