JAWS skips main region on down arrow press

[ejmarsh]

Summary

When in an entry field with a role of "textbox" if you press the down arrow, JAWS will skip all of the rest of the content in the main region.

Expected result

Virtual cursor should move to the element adjacent to the textbox.

Actual result

Virtual cursor skips the "main" region entirely.

Example

1. Go to http://www.google.com
2. Using the Chrome dev tools change the role of the search bar from "combobox" to "textbox".
3. Place focus in the field and press the down arrow. JAWS will announce "Main region end" and the virtual cursor will try to focus on the next element after the main region.

Additional Information

JAWS version and build number

JAWS 2019.1907.10 and up

Operating System and version

Windows 10 Enterprise. OS Build 17763.615

Browser and version:

Chrome 76.0.3809.100

[JAWS-test]

I can confirm the error. However, it has already been reported for role=region: #199

[JAWS-test]

For testing:

<button>button outside</button>
<main>
	text inside
	<input>
	<button>button inside</button>
	<a href=#>link inside</a>
	text inside
</main>
<a href=#>link outside</a>
text outside

[JAWS-test]

HTML

The problem occurs in Chrome within the following HTML elements: section, article, nav, main, footer, header, article, aside.

For some elements, such as section, footer and header, the problem is that not only the region is skipped, but the entire page content. I.e. after the input field the virtual cursor is at the end of the page.

ARIA

The problem occurs within the following ARIA roles: region, form, main, navigation, banner, contentinfo, complementary, search, document and article.

In some ARIA regions, such as document, search, banner, contentinfo, complementary, form and region, the problem is that not only the region is skipped, but the entire page content. I.e. after the input field the virtual cursor is at the end of the page.

Cause

The problem only occurs with input fields, because only with these JAWS switch to form mode when reading with the arrow keys.

The virtual cursor is always at the end of the page if it is a region that is not output during linear reading. The regions which are not output can be defined in the settings of JAWS.

Solution

Until the problem is solved, only switching from Forms Mode Auto to SemiAuto helps (INS+6, search for Forms Mode).

Priority

In my opinion, this is a serious problem and should be addressed with high priority.

Source Code

Example for testing the ARIA roles

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=region>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>region</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=form>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>form</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=main>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>main</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=navigation>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>navigation</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=banner>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>banner</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=contentinfo>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>contentinfo</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=complementary>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>complementary</button>
</div>


<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=search>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>search</button>
</div>

<a href=#>outside</a>
<div role=article>
	<input>
	text inside
	<button>article</button>
</div>
EOF

[JAWS-test]

The problem also occurs in Firefox (so far only tested with the ARIA region, same behaviour as with Chrome), but not in IE 11.

[JAWS-test]

If there is a form field group (fieldset, legend) within the region that leads to the error, the virtual cursor does not jump to the end of the region, but to the end of the form field group.

[robmc]

Summary

When in an entry field with a role of "textbox" if you press the down arrow, JAWS will skip all of the rest of the content in the main region.

Expected result

Virtual cursor should move to the element adjacent to the textbox.

Actual result

Virtual cursor skips the "main" region entirely.

Example

1. Go to http://www.google.com
2. Using the Chrome dev tools change the role of the search bar from "combobox" to "textbox".
3. Place focus in the field and press the down arrow. JAWS will announce "Main region end" and the virtual cursor will try to focus on the next element after the main region.

Additional Information

JAWS version and build number

JAWS 2019.1907.10 and up

Operating System and version

Windows 10 Enterprise. OS Build 17763.615

Browser and version:

Chrome 76.0.3809.100

Replicated the issue using JAWS 2019.

The page worked as expected using JAWS 2020.

[stevefaulkner]

@robmc this can be closed if it works fine in 2020

[JAWS-test]

Can confirm that the problem no longer occurs with current version of JAWS (2020.2004). With older versions (JAWS 2020.2003 and earlier), the problem still occurs