499100 - tabs navigation with keyboard shortcuts doesn't work

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: Keyboard Navigation, defect)

Description

[nivtwig]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090615 Firefox/3.5
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090615 Firefox/3.5

In firefox 3.0.x it was possible to use keyboard shortcuts (left arrow, right arrow, Home,End) to move quickly between tabs (for example:End key to jump to the last tab)

It doesn't work in Firefox 3.5 RC1, and in the trunk(Minefield) . The "End" key for example, will cause a move to the end of the current page, instead of to the last tab.

The reason for the problem is probably because tabs are not "selected" like they used to in Firefox 3.0.x .
A mouse click on the tab chooses the tab and highlights it, but in Firefox 3 it would also mark it with a rectangle as if it is selected, and marks/signs that keyboard commands work currently on the tabs instead of on other objects (the current page, for example)




Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. open many tabs, choose a tab by clicking it with the mouse
2. Try to navigate with the keyboard shortcuts between tabs, moving a tab right, moving to the last tab, moving to the first tab, etc.

Actual Results:  
keyboard shortcuts navigate on the page of the current tab

Expected Results:  
keyboard shortcuts should be navigating between tabs

Comment 1

[nivtwig]

The problems happens with all Windows operating systems, not just windows7, but there is no way to select it in the bug report fields. 
I believe it is also a problem with all other operating systems, but need confirmation .

Comment 2

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Those keyboard shortcuts were never actually in place for Firefox. You can see the complete list of keyboard shortcuts (including the ones for moving between tabs) here:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Keyboard+shortcuts

I can use arrow keys to navigate between tabs if I put keyboard focus there with certain accessibility options set. By default we don't give keyboard focus to mouse selection, IIRC.

Resolving this WFM, but if I have that wrong, David or Marco can re-open.

Comment 3

[Marco Zehe (:MarcoZ)]

I also cannot reproduce on Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2a1pre) Gecko/20090618 Minefield/3.6a1pre (.NET CLR 3.5.30729). Tjhe tabs switch correctly for me once I put keyboard focus there.

Comment 4

[nivtwig]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Those keyboard shortcuts were never actually in place for Firefox. You can see
> the complete list of keyboard shortcuts (including the ones for moving between
> tabs) here:
> 
> http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Keyboard+shortcuts
> 
I have seen this. But what worked for me in Firefox 3 is arrow keys, End, Home for tabs navigation, not what is written there (CTRL+arrows, or CTRL+End, etc.)

I think what was written there is incorrect, do these CTRL+ shortcuts work for you ?

> I can use arrow keys to navigate between tabs if I put keyboard focus there
> with certain accessibility options set. By default we don't give keyboard focus
> to mouse selection, IIRC.

first question: how do you put keyboard focus there "with certain accessibility options"?

The only way I found is to click the tab key multiple times where it goes over all links on the page until it gets to the tab focus. This is a MAJOR annoyance to need to press the tab key multiple times just in order to be able to use keyboard shortcuts for tabs navigation. consider the case where I have multiple tabs (50 something) and want to go to the last tab. Using mouse scrolling will take ages, therefore quick access to the keyboard shortcut for the last tab is a must , and it worked in Firefox 3 .

second question: Why doesn't Firefox give keyboard focus on the tab by default (as you say), when it is clicked with the mouse ?
As I wrote earlier, this is a must for quick keyboard navigation of the tabs .

Comment 5

[nivtwig]

(In reply to comment #3)
> I also cannot reproduce on Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US;
> rv:1.9.2a1pre) Gecko/20090618 Minefield/3.6a1pre (.NET CLR 3.5.30729). Tjhe
> tabs switch correctly for me once I put keyboard focus there.

Same question to you as in comment #4 : How have you been able to put keyboard focus there? with a mouse click or not? 
The only way I found was pressing tab multiple times, until it moves to the tab handle.
Is there a better way ?