I did what you suggested, but unless I did something wrong, expanding SC works fine to select the word(s), but having to hit Alt= requires pressing 2 keys and is more awkward than just hitting the F8 key.
I can't remember exactly what I did in IT7, but it involved selecting words with a command (repeating the selection process using my semicolon) and then I hit my left Shift key when I was finished selecting, which opened up the current glossary viewer and added the selected text. So it was also a 2-step process, but using my left Shift key was easier than F8 or Alt=
PS: I use a Kinesis Advantage2 ergonomic keyboard and I think my ALT key is in a different location than a regular keyboard. My F keys along the top are quite small as well, so that's why being able to use left SHIFT before was easy for me.