Tab order behaving unexpectedly in Grid and Snapping Axis dialog

[Figmatt]

Pressing Tab multiple times...

I can move forwards between: Spacing and Divisions (for multiple axes)

 

Pressing Shift+Tab multiple times..

I can move backwards between only one field, either Divisions back to Spacing, or from Spacing to Gutter or other unexpected combinations.

 

I cannot move freely backwards and forwards through all enabled fields, as I would expect to be able to do.

 

Designer 2.1.0

macOS 12.6.6

[Hangman]

Hi @matt,

There are numerous instances of tabbing issues throughout the Affinity apps' UI that exhibit similar behaviour. These issues have been logged to be looked at by the Development team so the hope is that we will see an improvement throughout the UI across all apps in a future update.

[Figmatt]

I had hoped for it in V2, which has really been the first update of any app I have regretted in quite a while.

[JohnWillbs]

Someone in the software team needs to go through all the app's dialog's and get the tab order working as it should – tab key to move focus to the next field, shift+tab key to move focus to the previous field.

Apple guidelines on user interface have been ignored for years – I found complaints on here about tabbing through fields and controls in modal dialogs and other windows dating back to 2018.

[Figmatt]

I agree, to have tab order still wrong in 2023 is an absolute crime for accessibility.

[Dan C]

Hi Matt, 

Thanks for reporting this, seems to be only affecting OSX though there seems to be a couple of inconsistencies between the behaviour on both OSX and Windows. I've logged it as a bug.

Lee

[Figmatt]

Thanks, I only use Mac so it's interesting to know there's a difference with this.

[JohnWillbs]

I only use Mac (MacOS 13.4) and a good example of the problem is when using Layer Effect: Outer Shadow with one layer and the Move Tool selected.

I should be able to enter a value in the Opacity field, then tab through the Radius, Offset, and Intensity fields, in order, entering values as I go. If I do enter a value in Opacity, when I hit tab, focus appears to leave the dialogue box completely and numerical keystrokes affect the opacity of the selected layer. If I continue hitting the tab key, focus returns to the Layer Effects dialog and 'sticks' at the Fill Opacity field.

I was hoping that my upgrade to version 2 apps would fix the user interface problems but unfortunately the apps still do not follow Apple interface guidelines.I really hope that the interface stupidities are fixed in the next update from version 2.1.0. Not being able to quickly tab through fields can really slow work down. 

[Figmatt]

Good example, John.

it would likely be quicker to list all the places that have correct tabbing behaviour as it seems to be broken in every place I try it.

[JohnWillbs]

I agree Matt, someone on the software team needs to go right through ALL the dialogs. It's such a shortfall on commercial software – Serif should be embarrassed at there being such a longstanding problem.

Is this a useful link? https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/67086