Remove the setting for automatic focus focusable elements in browse mode completely from the GUI

[Adriani90]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

In early issues NVDA had significant problems maintaining the virtual cursor at the same position, resulting in several bugs while browsing a document with the virtual cursor.
A setting has been added in NVDA, so the user can decide whether the system focus should follow the virtual cursor or not. When the system focus does not follow the virtual cursor, the navigation is much more stable and the cursor does not move around.
Enabling this setting in NVDA browse mode settings introduces many bugs such as loss of focus, unwanted actions performed while navigating through the web, and so on. Especially the fact that actions are triggered when this setting is enabled, poses a huge risk for users to open link or press buttons which they didn't intend to triggern.

Describe the solution you'd like

Let automatic movement of system focus to focusable elements disabled in browse mode settings and remove the setting completely from the GUI as well as the key stroke NVDA+8 from the global commands.

Describe alternatives you've considered

None

Additional context

n/a

[Brian1Gaff]

Or put it in advanced. I cannot say I've noticed any dangerous behaviour myself though. Brian

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[cary-rowen]

Are you sure this setting has no positive side at all when checked?

As far as I know, some add-ons, such as UnSpoken, rely on this option because they use the gainFocus event.

[ABuffEr]

I agree with to possibly move it to advanced settings, not with to remove it at all. I cannot point to specific cases, but I'm sure to have used it towaydays from time to time, in poorly designed websites, where the alternative would be to move and move and move manually the focus or the mouse pointer.

[Adriani90]

@ABuffEr I don't understand exactly the use case you describe. When you use a website with the mouse or in focus mode, there is no problem. In browse mode though you can call the system focus on demand by pressing tab, nvda+space bar or by routing the mouse to the virtual cursor with nvda+shift+m if needed.
I prefer this approach instead of NVDA opening links randomly or hovering the focus over area with actions without my intention. Because this is exactly what happens when you enable this setting for a longer time. We had some bug reports here that have been closed because NV Access does not recommend to enable this setting at all.

[Adriani90]

If your use case is limited to scrolling on websites etc., there is PR #9919 which adopts a different approach to solve this problem without the bugs we have now with automatic focus focusable elements.
However, that PR is abandoned and maybe someone has the skills and the time to take it over at a later stage.

[cary-rowen]

@Adriani90 wrote:

If your use case is limited to scrolling on websites etc., there is PR #9919 which adopts a different approach to solve this problem without the bugs we have now with automatic focus focusable elements.

No, definitely not just the use case of page scrolling.
Some poorly designed web pages may require users to enable this option as a temporary solution. It may be the fault of the web developer, but having a temporary solution is far better than doing nothing.

You wrote:

Enabling this setting in NVDA browse mode settings introduces many bugs such as loss of focus, unwanted actions performed while navigating through the web, and so on. Especially the fact that actions are triggered when this setting is enabled, poses a huge risk for users to open link or press buttons which they didn't intend to triggern.

Of course, I would also like to hear what you have to say about the negative impact of this option when it is turned on, and whether there is a specific case that can reflect this.
The situation you describe is more like a bug that was introduced by Chromium in the past but it has long since been resolved.

Finally, this option is off by default.

Thanks

[brunoprietog]

Removing this setting would be terrible for me. I use the Object Location Tones add-on to hear a sound every time I move through focusable controls. This really helps me to know where an object is on the screen quickly, and helps me to be more efficient when scrolling through the interface. It also helps me get a picture in my head of the layout of the interface, just as I can do when I'm using a touch device like my mobile phone. Isn't it already enough that it's disabled by default? There are only drawbacks to this

[lukaszgo1]

The fact that Object Location tones requires this option is caused by the deficiency in NVDA's core. I';d say this should be fixed before removing this option.

[XLTechie]

It seems that users who need this, know that they need it. As such, wouldn't a happy medium right now, be to remove the keyboard shortcut to prevent accidental activation by users who don't understand the ramifications, or who were reaching for something else? Often when I read about problems with this option, it's from users who didn't even realize they had it turned on. Since removing it would cause problems for a vocal minority, limiting its potential accidental use strikes me as a better first step, while we await some better synchronized scrolling to be implemented. I also support moving it to advanced, but dropping the script is an easy first action.