1616880 - Make tab navigation work when there's a search string

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: Address Bar, enhancement, P1)

Description

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

Verdi said we should re-enable tab navigation when there is a typed search string, mouse will still always allow to navigate with tab.
This means pretty much only top sites (shown when there's no typed string, or with the current page url) can't be navigated with tab.
We can also remove the pref disabling keyboard tab navigation, since it would only affect this tiny case.

There is one case we would like to be sure about, for a11y:

1. type a string
2. unfocus the urlbar
3. focus the urlbar again through the keyboard shortcut
4. at this point we reopen the view, and because there is a typed string tab would go through results

Jamie, does that look ok?

Comment 1

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

Sorry, I forgot the needinfo, please see comment 0.

Comment 2

[James Teh [:Jamie]]

Eek, that is indeed a bit ugly. However, I think it's mitigated by two things:

1. It's probably rare that a user will unfocus the URL bar after typing.
2. Unfocusing the URL bar would most often be done with tab or shift+tab, but since tab will move through results (as it did previously), the user will need to clear the address bar first in order to unfocus it this way (as was the case previously).

So, I think this should be okay. Certainly, I think it's a better compromise for different groups of users than we have now.

Comment 3

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

(In reply to James Teh [:Jamie] from comment #2)

2. Unfocusing the URL bar would most often be done with tab or shift+tab, but since tab will move through results (as it did previously), the user will need to clear the address bar first in order to unfocus it this way (as was the case previously).

Note currently tabbing out and back in the urlbar doesn't reopen the view, but it should and that's bug 1616872. So yes, once that will be fixed, you'll have to clear the string to tab away from the urlbar.

Comment 4

[Adrian Florinescu [:aflorinescu]]

:mak, it's unclear for QA if this will be uplift material for 74?

Comment 5

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

yes, it should be in 74.

Comment 6

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

Attachment: Bug 1616880 - Allow tabbing through urlbar results when there's a search string. r=dao,adw

Comment 8

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/b8b8bd8165bd
Allow tabbing through urlbar results when there's a search string. r=adw

Comment 9

[Cristina Coroiu [:ccoroiu]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/b8b8bd8165bd

Comment 10

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

Comment on attachment 9128180 [details]
Bug 1616880 - Allow tabbing through urlbar results when there's a search string. r=dao,adw

Beta/Release Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: We would like to run a pref flipping experiment in Firefox 74 with the new design enabled, this is part of it.
  The new design is normally disabled in 74, and will ride the train for 75.
• Is this code covered by automated tests?: Yes
• Has the fix been verified in Nightly?: No
• Needs manual test from QE?: Yes
• If yes, steps to reproduce: Open a new tab, the urlbar should be focused, press tab, focus should move to the next toolbar item.
  Open a new tab, the urlbar should be focused, type something in the urlbar, press tab, focus should move to the next urlbar result.
  Focusing the urlbar with the mouse should always tab through results.
  focusing the urlbar with the keyboard shortcut (CTRL+L) should tab through results if there's a user types string, focus the next toolbar item otherwise.
• List of other uplifts needed: None
• Risk to taking this patch: Low
• Why is the change risky/not risky? (and alternatives if risky): The new design will be disabled by default in Firefox 74, it will only affect our pref-flip experiment.
  This also moves use closer to the old behavior.
• String changes made/needed:

Comment 11

[Pascal Chevrel:pascalc]

Comment on attachment 9128180 [details]
Bug 1616880 - Allow tabbing through urlbar results when there's a search string. r=dao,adw

Needed for a 74 study, uplift approved for 74.0b8, thanks.

Comment 12

[Razvan Maries]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/832bb32b5d6d

Comment 14

[Adrian Florinescu [:aflorinescu]]

Verified the fix in Nightly 75.0a1 - 2020-02-28 on Windows 10 / Ubuntu 18.04 / Mac 10.13
Verified the uplift in 74.0b9 - 2020-02-27 on Windows 10 / Ubuntu 18.04 / Mac 10.13 (browser.urlbar.update1 - true ; browser.urlbar.openViewOnFocus - false )

The verification was focused on being able to use Tab to be able to navigate through the results, while there is user input or search results, in other cases it would navigate to the next toolbar item (next toolbar item being the Library as default). I could only see one problem (bug 1618250 ) which was already logged with additional investigation noted, bug being only visible when browser.urlbar.openViewOnFocus is true (preference false by default on beta).

Note:
Normally, since QuantumBar is pref'ed of in 74, I would mark 74 as disabled, but since this fix was uplifted with 74 study toggle in mind, I'm going to mark it as verified in this case.