Bug 107344 - Use Alt key combination to access tabbed Notebookbar tabs
Summary: Use Alt key combination to access tabbed Notebookbar tabs
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: accessibility
: 156895 170293 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: Notebookbar-Tabbed Notebookbar-a11y 135501
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Reported: 2017-04-21 22:41 UTC by Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired)
Modified: 2026-01-12 10:05 UTC (History)
6 users (show)

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Description Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2017-04-21 22:41:24 UTC
Similar to Alt providing users access to the menubar, when the menubar is hidden in the tabbed Notebookbar, Alt could provide access to the Notebookbar tabs.
Comment 1 V Stuart Foote 2017-04-21 23:38:51 UTC
Yes, but rather than <Alt> mod-key accelerators, some could/should be provided as short-cuts.
Comment 2 andreas_k 2018-11-21 13:27:25 UTC
By default the ALT focus (Alt + F for menubar file) is on the menubar, in notebookbars you can turn off the menubar and it would be very usefull that - if menubar is turn off - the focus will move to Notebookbar. If the menubar is on than the ALT focus is at menubar.
Comment 3 Buovjaga 2023-09-21 16:12:57 UTC
*** Bug 156895 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 4 Heiko Tietze 2026-01-12 05:05:30 UTC
*** Bug 170293 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 5 molito 2026-01-12 10:05:35 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from bug #170293 comment #1)
> LibreOffice does not implement the Windows Ribbon API to create its MUFFIN
> Notebookbar (NB) "Tabbed" UI.
> 
> Accessibility and keyboard navigation is already well addressed with
> consistent keyboard controls. That is keyboard movement onto the NB's UI
> elements is via an normalized <F6> focus event onto the NB, the active "Tab"
> will highlight. While using <Ctrl>+<Tab> or <Ctrl>+<Shift>+<Tab> (or the
> cursor keys) keyboard actions to advance between NB tabs.  
> 
> Once focused into a NB assemblage of controls, keyboard movement is only by
> <Tab> or <Shift>+<Tab> to move between controls.
> 
> Use <F6>/<Shift>+<F6> will advance focus between UI elements. And when Main
> menu is exposed (it is hidden by default, but exposure button is provided in
> each NB assemblage) an <F10> will focus onto main menu. With <F6> available
> to move between UI regions.
> 
> The <Alt> key then will expose the mnemonic accelerators of the menu
> controls and functions in those keyboard sequences.
> 
> As should be obvious, in that context the <Alt> key is already allocated and
> is not available to further overload for movement onto the NB Tabbed
> assemblages--just for the Windows builds. The LibreOffice Notebookbar is not
> the MS Ribbon API.
> 
> IMHO => WF


I understand that we are not using the Windows Ribbon API and that Alt is reserved for menu accelerators. However, relying on F6 loops is a significant accessibility barrier (WCAG guidelines usually discourage cyclic navigation for primary toolbars).

Proposed Technical Pathway: Could we introduce a ProcessKey intercept in the Notebookbar controller? If the Notebookbar is the active UI mode:

Detect the standalone KEY_MOD1 (Alt) event.

Suppress the default MenuBar activation.

Instead, call GrabFocus() on the active Tab control of the Notebookbar.

This wouldn't require implementing the full Windows API, but simply re-routing the focus event in this specific UI context to match the Universal Accessibility expectation for tabbed interfaces."