hitTestObject with Keyboard

I have made an avatar that can move from left to right via the keyboard. I want a hitTestObject so when the avatar hits a specific object something happens. I understand how to do this with MouseEvents, but not KeyboardEvents.

Such as:

avatar.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER , mOver);
function mOver(event:MouseEvent):void {
event.target.startDrag();
if(event.target.hitTestObject(ball) && event.target.name == “avatar”) {
ball.visible = false;
}
}