I can no longer access the terminal's accessibility buffer

[jvesouza]

Type: Bug
cc: @meganrogge @isidorn

Since Friday the 3rd, I have not been able to access the terminal accessibility buffer in my linux environment. I activate a terminal and am informed by orca about accessibility in the terminal. But pressing shift+tab does not move the focus to the accessibility buffer.
Am I doing something wrong or has something changed from day 3?

VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.77.0-insider (0cab3cc, 2023-03-06T05:21:55.128Z)
OS version: Linux x64 6.1.14-200.fc37.x86_64
Modes:
Sandboxed: Yes

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60GHz (8 x 2800)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_renderer: enabled_on video_decode: disabled_software video_encode: disabled_software vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: disabled_off
Load (avg)	1, 1, 1
Memory (System)	15.27GB (7.94GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id bc02adbd-6c3a-44b8-af92-55103a608af7
Screen Reader	yes
VM	0%
DESKTOP_SESSION	gnome-xorg
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP	GNOME
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP	gnome-xorg
XDG_SESSION_TYPE	x11

Extensions (39)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
doxdocgen	csc	1.4.0
vscode-markdownlint	Dav	0.49.0
vscode-chatgpt	gen	3.9.4
rest-client	hum	0.25.1
better-cpp-syntax	jef	1.17.2
azure-pipelines	ms-	1.208.0
vscode-docker	ms-	1.24.0
csharp	ms-	1.25.4
vscode-dotnet-runtime	ms-	1.6.0
vscode-kubernetes-tools	ms-	1.3.11
remote-containers	ms-	0.283.0
remote-ssh	ms-	0.99.2023030315
remote-ssh-edit	ms-	0.84.0
azure-account	ms-	0.11.3
cmake-tools	ms-	1.13.45
cpptools	ms-	1.14.4
cpptools-extension-pack	ms-	1.3.0
makefile-tools	ms-	0.6.0
powershell-preview	ms-	2023.2.1
remote-explorer	ms-	0.3.2023021509
vsliveshare	ms-	1.0.5832
oracledevtools	Ora	21.5.0
fabric8-analytics	red	0.3.6
java	red	1.16.2023030303
vscode-xml	red	0.25.2023022303
vscode-yaml	red	1.11.0
sonarlint-vscode	Son	3.15.1
cmake	twx	0.0.17
intellicode-api-usage-examples	Vis	0.2.7
vscodeintellicode	Vis	1.2.30
vscode-boot-dev-pack	vmw	0.2.1
vscode-spring-boot	vmw	1.44.0
vscode-java-debug	vsc	0.49.2023022723
vscode-java-dependency	vsc	0.21.2023030400
vscode-java-pack	vsc	0.25.2023021400
vscode-java-test	vsc	0.38.2023030203
vscode-maven	vsc	0.40.2023030203
vscode-spring-boot-dashboard	vsc	0.11.1
vscode-spring-initializr	vsc	0.11.2

(1 theme extensions excluded)

A/B Experiments

vsliv695:30137379
vsins829:30139715
vsliv368cf:30146710
vsreu685:30147344
python383cf:30185419
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vswsl492cf:30256198
vstes627cf:30244335
vslsvsres303:30308271
pythonvspyl392:30422396
pythontb:30258533
pythonptprofiler:30281269
vshan820:30294714
pythondataviewer:30285072
vscod805cf:30301675
bridge0708:30335490
bridge0723:30353136
cmake_vspar411:30581797
vsaa593cf:30376535
pythonvs932:30404738
cppdebug:30492333
vsclangdf:30492506
c4g48928:30535728
dsvsc012cf:30540253
pynewext54:30618038
pylantcb52:30590116
pyindex848:30611229
nodejswelcome1:30587009
pyind779:30611226
pythonsymbol12:30651887
6233i204:30659907
pythonb192:30661256
funwalk2cf:30676044
pythonms35:30671666
cai9j608:30676706

[meganrogge]

You can use this command Terminal: Focus Accessible Buffer for now, but I can repro the issue

[meganrogge]

The other change that has been made here is tab moves focus mode has to be on for that keybinding to work. This prevents issues where the terminal should be handling shift + tab such as for ipython or oh-my-zsh autocomplete.

The when clause for this command can be configured in the keybindings editor though if you do not like this behavior.

[jvesouza]

After using the command Terminal: Focus Accessible Buffer, the behavior was a little strange.

1. When focus is on the accessible buffer, the tab key does not move focus to the terminal, but to the status bar. When I'm in the accessible buffer I need to press tab and then shift+tab to access the terminal.
2. It seems that the accessible buffer is not always updated when I execute a command in the terminal.

[meganrogge]

Yes thanks, covered in these issues:

#176197
#172582