2068610 - Search Mode Switcher menu items should not have explicit access keys (first letter shouldn't be underlined) so that multiple panel items can share the same implied access key

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: Address Bar, defect, P1)

Description

[Ardelean Oana, Desktop Test Engineering [:oardelean]]

Attachment: image.png

Notes

• Please see the attached screenshot for more details.
• Reproducible with both Proton and Nova.
• Could not reproduce on macOS so far.

Found in

• Nightly 157.0a1;

Affected versions

• Nightly 157.0a1;

Tested platforms

• Windows 11;
• Ubuntu 22;
• macOS 13;

Affected platforms

• Windows 11;
• Ubuntu 22;

Unaffected platforms

• macOS 13;

Steps to reproduce

1. Launch Firefox.
2. Open the Search Mode Switcher.

Expected result

• Search engines are displayed properly.

Actual result

• Search engines listed have the first letter underscored.

Regression range

• last good: 2026-07-10
• first bad: 2026-07-11
• pushlog: https://hg-edge.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/pushloghtml?fromchange=734668e5d008b174543e28f33dacc14ca02369f9&tochange=f43c4e4bb21ddccd72c7b1df9eb422779182f701
• potentially regressed by: bug 2051148

Comment 1

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco]]

Set release status flags based on info from the regressing bug 2051148

:mbeier, since you are the author of the regressor, bug 2051148, could you take a look? Also, could you set the severity field?

For more information, please visit BugBot documentation.

Comment 2

[Moritz Beier [:mbeier]]

This is a mnemonic for the key that can be pressed to select each item (also called its accesskey). It can be disabled by setting ui.key.menuAccessKey to 0 but it's intentionally on by default on Linux.

One thing I just realized is that imnemonics aren't visible in the newtab searchbar because panel-list uses XUL labels to render them (the accesskey still works). Dao do you think this inconsistency should be addressed?

Comment 3

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

I believe these are implied first-letter access keys, and therefore shouldn't get the underline.

Comment 4

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

Oh, these aren't auto accesskeys, but they should be. Same reasoning as in bug 2071753.

Comment 5

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

Attachment: Bug 2068610 - Let a panel-list select an item by its first letter while focus is outside the panel. r?tgiles!

The Smartbar's mention panel moves focus to its editor before this runs, which is why the check asks what kind of element has focus and not where it sits; a XUL panel opened by mouse leaves focus on the body and keeps the letters.

Comment 6

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

Attachment: Bug 2068610 - Drop the search mode switcher items' accesskeys. r?daleharvey!,#fluent-reviewers

Comment 7

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/70b104f0bc81
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/7e4a59fede40
Let a panel-list select an item by its first letter while focus is outside the panel. r=tgiles,reusable-components-reviewers
https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/8a4cce3a21f2
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/bb67d5fdf7ce
Drop the search mode switcher items' accesskeys. r=daleharvey,fluent-reviewers,bolsson

Comment 8

[Silaghi Andreea]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/7e4a59fede40
https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/bb67d5fdf7ce

Comment 9

[Ardelean Oana, Desktop Test Engineering [:oardelean]]

Reproducible on a 2026-09-02 Firefox Nightly build on Windows 10.

Verified as fixed on Firefox Nightly 159.0a1 and Firefox 158.0b1 on Windows 10, Ubuntu 22, macOS 13.

Comment 10

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco]]

The patch landed in nightly and ESR is affected.

:dao, please make an uplift decision for ESR:

• For ESR, nominate the patch for the appropriate ESR uplift approval if the fix should be included in ESR, or set the ESR status flag(s) to wontfix if an uplift isn't needed. Each affected ESR release needs a decision.

See Requesting an Uplift for documentation on how to request an uplift.

For more information, please visit BugBot documentation.