Closed Bug 1724032 Opened 4 years ago Closed 4 years ago

With VO + Left (arrow key), VO focus is moved to the right (and vice-versa) in RTL builds

Categories

(Firefox :: Disability Access, defect)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
Disability Access
Platform:
Desktop
macOS
Type:
defect

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED INVALID
Tracking Flags:
Tracking Status
firefox92 --- affected

People

(Reporter: danibodea, Unassigned)

Details

(Keywords: access)

Note

  • When the user attempts to use VO in an RTL build and moves focus horizontally, he will notice that the focus is moved to the opposite direction.

Affected versions

  • Nightly v92.0a1

Affected platforms

  • Mac OS

Steps to reproduce

  1. Enable VoiceOver.
  2. Launch browser.
  3. Focus and area where you can move focus horizontally
    (like the main bar with the Back, Refresh buttons, Address bar, Hamburger Menu button, etc.)
  4. Move focus to the left or right using VO + Left / Right (arrow key).

Expected result

  • The focus moves in the direction of the pressed arrow key.

Actual result

  • The focus moves in the opposite direction of the pressed arrow key.

Regression range

  • Not a recent regression.

Additional notes

  • This issue was tested in Arabic and Hebrew language builds.
  • It is yet unknown whether this is intended or not but it definitely does not feel intended.
No longer blocks: 1678712

I can understand why this is confusing, but I'm reasonably sure VO+right is defined as "next element" and VO+left as "previous element"; i.e. the horizontal direction isn't relevant to the command, confusing as that might be. This might be different if the entire OS language was set to an RTL language; I'm not sure.

Would it be possible to test with another RTL app (perhaps something using standard Mac UI) to verify?

Flags: needinfo?(daniel.bodea)

It appears you are right about this.
If testing it in a Mac OS with the language set to Arabic, then use the steps in comment 0, the direction in which the focus is moving is the direction of the arrow key pressed (along with the VO key).

To conclude, it makes sense that the Arabic language builds would be used with an OS set to Arabic as well, but this is not necessarily a given.

Please set this bug's status as you see fit. Thanks!

Flags: needinfo?(daniel.bodea) → needinfo?(jteh)

I agree it's not necessarily given that system and app language will be the same. However, based on your findings, it seems VoiceOver only uses the system language to determine the traversal order for VO+left and VO+right, and as far as I know, this isn't something we can override. Therefore, I'm closing this since it's not actionable by us.

Side note: I really wish we had a "cantfix" resolution.

Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 4 years ago
Flags: needinfo?(jteh)
Resolution: --- → INVALID
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