An illogical keyboard focus order observed when navigating from Split Editor button using Tab key: A11y_VS code_Keyboard

[kapilvaishna]

Please do not close this bug. This bug should only be closed by TCS, C+AI Accessibility tester after bug verification.

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GitHub Tags

#A11yTCS; #Visual Studio Code Client; #agency:plugin=a11y@company; #ES chat_Deeplink;#E2E_VisualStudioCodeClient_Win32_Dec2025;#DesktopApp;#FTP;#Win32;#A11ySev2;#A11yMAS;#WCAG2.4.3; #Keyboard;

Issue Subcategory

Illogical focus order

User Experience

Keyboard users encounter controls in an unexpected, confusing sequence that does not match the visual layout. Form fields may be reached out of order, causing data entry errors.

Repro Steps

Open Visual studio code > Install 'GitHub Copilot Modernization' extension > Download repro https://github.com/Azure-Samples/java-migration-copilot-samples and unzip it and open as folder > 'GitHub Copilot Modernization' appear in left navigation > 'Migrate to Azure' button > Once report is generated, it will open in Assessment report tab TAB to report > Observe the issue: An illogical keyboard focus order observed when navigating from Split Editor button using Tab key.

Actual Result

Keyboard focus moves from the Split Editor button to the Notification bar present at the bottom of the screen and then back to the adjacent interactive control (Share Feedback) upon further Tab navigation, creating an inconsistent and illogical focus sequence.

Expected Result

Keyboard focus should move in a logical top‑to‑bottom navigation order.
Focus should move sequentially to the Share Feedback control after the Split Editor button, and the Notification bar should be reached only at the end of the page navigation order.

How to Fix

Ensure DOM order matches visual order. Avoid positive tabindex values (use only 0 or -1). Use CSS for visual positioning without changing the underlying DOM order.

Environment Details:

Application: VS Code
Edition Windows 11 Enterprise
Version 25H2
OS build 26200.6899

Attachment

319907_Keyboard.mp4

[kapilvaishna]

Below is the input from extension team

This is a VS Code workbench limitation rather than something our extension can fix:

Inside the webview (Assessment Report content), Tab order is ours to control — and we've already ensured that pressing Tab from the editor tab title lands on the first interactive control in the report.
Between workbench parts (editor toolbar buttons like Split Editor, status bar, panel, activity bar, webview content, etc.), the Tab sequence is defined by VS Code itself. By design, VS Code uses F6 / Shift+F6 to move focus between parts. Extensions cannot reorder this from inside a webview.
The Split Editor → Status bar → Share Feedback path you're seeing comes entirely from the workbench shell

[meganrogge]

This is expected based on the dom order. I suggest closing this.

[meganrogge]

Correction on my previous comment: while the editor tabs and toolbar do use roving tabindex (not reachable by Tab), the interactive elements inside the webview editor content (like buttons in the assessment report) should absolutely be reachable by Tab. They aren't because the webview iframe is in an overlay outside the DOM tab order — same root cause as #314974. Fix incoming in #321468.