1973696 - Second option is automatically highlighted in the new Address Account Hub on first launch

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Thunderbird :: Address Book, defect)

Description

[Vlad Lucaci, Thunderbird QA (:vlucaci)]

Attachment: Screen Recording 2025-06-24 at 15.03.16.mov

Affected versions

• 141.0a1(20250623081605)

Affected platforms

• Windows 11
• macOS 15.5
• Ubuntu 25

Steps to reproduce

1. Go to Settings
2. Check the "Create address books in the new Account Hub"
3. Go to the burger menu
4. Go to New Account
5. Select "New Address Book"

Expected result

• Upon opening the section, none of the options should be highlighted.

Actual result

• After a short loading animation for the "Sync from an existing account" option, the second "Add Remote Address book" is highlighted.
• None of the options should be highlighted, letting the user to make his free choice (this somehow feels like a suggestion or a recommendation to select the second option)

Comment 1

[Alessandro Castellani [:aleca]]

Thanks for the report.

None of the options should be highlighted, letting the user to make his free choice (this somehow feels like a suggestion or a recommendation to select the second option)

That highlight you're seeing is the platform focused state, representing where the keyboard focus currently is.
I was able to reproduce that state only if I previously navigate the application with the keyboard, therefore "activating" the visible tab focus (which is correct since that's an accessibility requirement).
Did you interact with the keyboard before opening the account hub?

The focus on the second option shouldn't be visible if I exclusively interact with the mouse, and clicking on an empty space should clear that highlight.

I'm gonna mark this bug as invalid since even if the focus appears it's not something we can control, and the focus on the second button is the correct tabular accessible order that users using screenreaders and other assistive technologies should be presented with.