There is no way to tab out of the plugins and themes editors textareas

[azaozz]

Currently we are inserting tab characters on pressing the Tab key in both file editors, even if Shift is pressed too. That breaks tabbing on these screens and leaves users stuck in the textarea.

[azaozz]

21347.patch adds checking of modifier keys when inserting a tab char in the file editors textareas, so Shift + Tab will work as expected. It also adds a key combination to be able to tab past the textarea: first press Esc, then press Tab. This behavior is described by aria-describedby elements for the textareas.

[grahamarmfield]

If the action required to tab beyond the textarea is not a tab button then clear and visible text instructions should be included above the relevant fields.

[azaozz]

Replying to grahamarmfield:

It is still a tab keystroke, but to make it go beyond the textarea instead of typing a tab char, you need to press Esc first. That is described in the extended description of the textarea (added with aria-describedby attribute). Will commit the patch so it would be easier to test.

[azaozz]

In [21310]:

Make it possible to tab out of the plugin and theme editors textareas by pressing Esc followed by Tab, fixes #21347

[azaozz]

Closed as fixed for now. If this behavior is not acceptable, feel free to reopen with other options.

[grahamarmfield]

Replying to azaozz:

Closed as fixed for now. If this behavior is not acceptable, feel free to reopen with other options.

Standard behaviour for a textarea when tab key is pressed is to move to the next item that can receive focus. I'm a little nervous about that behaviour being overridden. How about swapping the solution round to:

• Tab key pressed - moves out of textarea
• Esc + Tab - inserts a tab character

Also, using aria-describedby attribute is good for screen reader users, but where non-standard behaviour is present it's important that clear and visible instructions are provided for those who may be using a keyboard but not alongside a screen reader - eg some motor-impaired sighted people.

[dd32]

Standard behaviour for a textarea when tab key is pressed is to move to the next item that can receive focus.

Standard behaviour for a "Code Editor" (Which the text area is in this case) is to insert a tab character for indention purposes, Shift+Tab would be to un-indent, so to remove the tab before the current position.

The Plugin/Theme editors being Code Editors rather than standard form elements makes me comfortable that the Esc key being added as an escape.. but that's just a Developers opinion, those that would be using the textarea, for the tab key to do anything other than inserting a tab makes muscle memory useless

[grahamarmfield]

Replying to dd32:

Fair comment dd32.

It would still be useful to have some visual indication that Esc+Tab is required to move out of the code editor.

[dd32]

It would still be useful to have some visual indication that Esc+Tab is required to move out of the code editor.

I don't disagree there, It's not going to be obvious when pressing Esc that anything has changed

[azaozz]

Sounds good. What would be the better place for this: in the Help tab or directly above the textarea?

[nacin]

I would rather put this in help, at most. This kind of instruction has very little benefit taking up space on the page.

[azaozz]

Yes, think the best place for this is in the Help tab too. Wanted to confirm before moving it.

[azaozz]

In [21358]:

Move the description for tabbing out of the plugin and theme editors textareas to the Help tab, fixes #21347