FreedomScientific
Navigating with arrow key can sometimes skip content and jump to bottom of page
Summary
When navigating through content on a web page using the down arrow key, JAWS focus will sometimes skip out of the main content region and jump to the footer links at the bottom of the page, after encountering an actionable item on the page. This issue only occurs on the first time navigating through a page, and when using arrow key only. If you try to reload the page or navigate through a second time, or if you use tab key to navigate on the page before using the down arrow key, the issue does not occur. This issue was observed with JAWS in Chrome and Edge browsers and was not reproducible with NVDA. Similar issues have been described by others online: https://jfw.groups.io/g/main/topic/jaws_jumping_to_the_bottom_of/107109591 and https://jfw.groups.io/g/main/topic/jaws_jumps_around_in_some/100687750
Example:
- With JAWS on, open Edge or Chrome browser and go to http://www.amazon.com
- Select a product and use down arrow to navigate through the page until you arrive at the search field under "Looking for specific info?"
- Press down arrow again - notice that virtual cursor skips Product Details and other content, and jumps to footer links at the bottom of the site.
Expected result
When navigating with arrow key, JAWS should read the next item in the DOM
Actual result
When navigating with arrow key, JAWS sometimes skips main content and jumps to the footer links at the bottom of the page
Example
Additional Information
JAWS version and build number
We have tried JAW 2023 and JAW2024
Operating System and version
Edition Windows 11 Enterprise Version 23H2 Installed on 4/12/2024 OS build 22631.4037 Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1027.0
Browser and version:
Chrome: 127.0.6533.120 Edge: 127.0.2651.105
I could not reproduce the problem on the amazon site, but I know it from older JAWS versions. At that time it was related to the automatic switch to forms mode for input fields. The automatic switch should be deactivated because it is generally very error-prone in JAWS
See: https://github.com/FreedomScientific/standards-support/issues/241, https://github.com/FreedomScientific/standards-support/issues/199 and https://github.com/FreedomScientific/standards-support/issues/370
Thank you! I am still able to reproduce this issue in JAWS24 with Forms mode setting in Automatic, Semi-Automatic, and Manual; are there any other settings that might need to be adjusted? The issue still only occurs on the first time navigating through the page, and if only down arrow key is used to navigate.
with Forms mode setting in Automatic, Semi-Automatic, and Manual
if it occurs in all 3 modes, I also don't know how to avoid the problem