GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 681527
Allow tabbing through the overview
Last modified: 2021-07-05 14:17:32 UTC
Moving through the Activities Overview from the keyboard is currently done with the Ctrl+Alt+Tab key combination. This is really hard to use physically; it is also inconsistent with how keyboard navigation works elsewhere in GNOME. Why don't we just use the tab key for moving between parts of the overview, and get rid of the OSD? It would be easier to use physically, and would be consistent with how Gtk does it.
(In reply to comment #0) > Moving through the Activities Overview from the keyboard is currently done with > the Ctrl+Alt+Tab key combination. This is really hard to use physically; it is > also inconsistent with how keyboard navigation works elsewhere in GNOME. Well, it was the keybinding for GNOME2, although it is true that it is only used with the desktop. > Why don't we just use the tab key for moving between parts of the overview, and > get rid of the OSD? It would be easier to use physically, and would be > consistent with how Gtk does it. Are you also proposing to remove that OSD on the initial view? At this moment is the only way to give the focus to the panel (AFAIK) Anyway, about removing the OSD at Activities Overview and use just keyboard navigation. At this moment the OSD gives you the possibility to focus directly on a specific container of the overview. So lets say that the OSD is removed, and when you move to the Overview, the first focused item is the panel. Then you will need to navigate through all the items of the panel til the last one, in order to move to the next container (lets say that it is the Dash). That would be really uncomfortable if you want to focus on the Dash. So IMHO, if we want to remove the OSD, we should provide some default keybindings for each container (ie: Alt+F10 is really typical for the panel). And finally, I think that it shouldn't be required to remove that OSD. If those keybindings are provided, probably most of the users will use them instead of the OSD. But as I said that Ctrl+Alt+Tab switcher it is used since GNOME2, so if someone doesn't know about the specific keybinding they could use that OSD as a fallback.
(In reply to comment #1) > > Why don't we just use the tab key for moving between parts of the overview, and > > get rid of the OSD? It would be easier to use physically, and would be > > consistent with how Gtk does it. > > Are you also proposing to remove that OSD on the initial view? At this moment > is the only way to give the focus to the panel (AFAIK) With what I'm suggesting, we would either need to give the panel focus for the arrow keys, or use the arrow keys to give focus to the panel. Pressing tab would then cycle through the other elements of the overview. > Anyway, about removing the OSD at Activities Overview and use just keyboard > navigation. At this moment the OSD gives you the possibility to focus directly > on a specific container of the overview. ... I'm suggesting that we use tab to move through each container in the same way that you can currently with Ctrl+Alt+Tab. You could then move within the container using the arrow keys. > So IMHO, if we want to remove the OSD, we should provide some default > keybindings for each container (ie: Alt+F10 is really typical for the panel). Sounds like a good idea. > ... But as I said that Ctrl+Alt+Tab switcher it is used since GNOME2, so > if someone doesn't know about the specific keybinding they could use that OSD > as a fallback. We could still include Ctrl+Alt+Tab alongside the new keybinding, at least to begin with.
(In reply to comment #2) > > Anyway, about removing the OSD at Activities Overview and use just keyboard > > navigation. At this moment the OSD gives you the possibility to focus directly > > on a specific container of the overview. ... > > I'm suggesting that we use tab to move through each container in the same way > that you can currently with Ctrl+Alt+Tab. You could then move within the > container using the arrow keys. Well, the problem is that one of the reasons you used to justify this change is that it would be consistent with Gtk. But AFAIK, Gtk doesn't work in that way. Tab moves to the next item, not to the next container. In several places using the arrow keys and the tab is the same.
*** Bug 692598 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 728540 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
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