Hello Everyone, I am working on moving TalkBack ac...

# compose

[Rohit Neel]

Hello Everyone,
I am working on moving TalkBack accessibility focus across multiple menus. Currently, the focus moves correctly to the first menu when navigating back from another screen using the back button, but not to the second and third which focus always stays on back icon. I have created three FocusRequester objects and, based on the selected menu, I call requestFocus(). I am passing these requester objects as a Triple to another composable and then applying them in three different menus using modifier.focusRequester(focusRequesters.first) (and similarly for the others). However, I am not sure what might be going wrong.

Please find the code snippet with issue video in thread accessibility

[Rohit Neel]

val selectedJourney = cachingManager.getCurrentJourney()
val increaseFocusRequester = remember { FocusRequester() }
val reduceFocusRequester = remember { FocusRequester() }
val cancelFocusRequester = remember { FocusRequester() }
LaunchedEffect(selectedJourney) {
if (context.isAccessibilityEnable()) {
awaitFrame()
when (selectedJourney) {
Journey.INCREASE -> increaseFocusRequester.requestFocus()
Journey.REDUCE -> reduceFocusRequester.requestFocus()
Journey.CANCEL -> cancelFocusRequester.requestFocus()
else -> {}
}
}
}

MenuSection( FocusRequesters = Triple (increaseFocusRequester, reduce FocusRequester, cancel FocusRequester)

@Composable
private fun MenuSection(
focusRequesters: TripleFocusRequester, FocusRequester, FocusRequester
) {
MenuTileItem(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.padding(top = semanticSpaceFixed24DP)
.focusRequester(focusRequesters.first),
type = MenuTileItemType.INCREASE_LIMIT,
enabled = viewModel.isJourneyDisabled(Journey.INCREASE.name),
onClick = {
viewModel.cacheSelectedJourney(Journey.INCREASE)
navController.navigate(Screen.ImportantToKnowRoute.route)
}
)
     MenuTileItem(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.padding(top = semanticSpaceFixed24DP)
.focusRequester(focusRequesters.second),
type = MenuTileItemType.INCREASE_LIMIT,
enabled = viewModel.isJourneyDisabled(Journey.INCREASE.name),
onClick = {
viewModel.cacheSelectedJourney(Journey.INCREASE)
navController.navigate(Screen.ImportantToKnowRoute.route)
}
)
     MenuTileItem(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.padding(top = semanticSpaceFixed24DP)
.focusRequester(focusRequesters.third),
type = MenuTileItemType.INCREASE_LIMIT,
enabled = viewModel.isJourneyDisabled(Journey.INCREASE.name),
onClick = {
viewModel.cacheSelectedJourney(Journey.INCREASE)
navController.navigate(Screen.ImportantToKnowRoute.route)
}
)

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

TalkBack focus is different from keyboard navigation focus - focus requester allows you to control keyboard focus but it's separate from TalkBack. You can't programmatically control TalkBack in this way

[Rohit Neel]

Could you please suggest how to control TalkBack focus?

[Rohit Neel]

Also find the issue video

Record_2025-08-20-15-15-49_6e9bea17e8a9a7ab6031ec8b350c37bd.mp4

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

You can't control it really, it's controlled by the system. You can use semantics to adjust traversal order and things but you can't programmatically move focus

[Rohit Neel]

Ok, if possible could you please share how we can use semantic to adjust traversal order based on video steps like navigation between screen?

[Rohit Neel]

Even with semantic we cannot move focus right?

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/compose/accessibility/traversal

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

All the guidance is here

[Rohit Neel]

Ok thanks, one question will semantic traversal will move focus into different elements right?

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

It controls how accessibility moves when the user navigates through the application with a11y

[Rohit Neel]

Ok got it. Thank you for the guidance

[Rohit Neel]

Hi @Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]
I have tried setting semantic isTraversalGroup flag & traversalIndex but it is not moving to different menu automatically, like I am expecting focus should come to corresponding menu which triggers the navigation.
val menuItems = listOf(
EligibleJourney.INCREASE,
EligibleJourney.REDUCE,
EligibleJourney.CANCEL
)

// Assign a unique traversalIndex to each item.
// The selected item gets a traversalIndex of 0f.
// The other items get a traversalIndex of 1f, 2f, etc., in their original order.
val traversalIndices = mutableMapOfEligibleJourney, Float()
var currentIndex = 1f
menuItems.forEach { item ->
if (item == selectedJourney) {
traversalIndices[item] = 0f
} else {
traversalIndices[item] = currentIndex
currentIndex += 1f
}
}

// Menu item for 'INCREASE' journey.
MenuTileItem(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.padding(top = semanticSpaceFixed24DP)
.semantics {
traversalIndex = traversalIndices[EligibleJourney.INCREASE] ?: 1f
},
type = MenuTileItemType.INCREASE_LIMIT,
enabled = viewModel.isJourneyDisabled(EligibleJourney.INCREASE.name).not(),
onClick = {
viewModel.cacheSelectedJourney(EligibleJourney.INCREASE)
navController.navigate(Screen.ImportantToKnowRoute.route)
}
)

// Menu item for 'REDUCE' journey.
MenuTileItem(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.padding(top = semanticSpaceFixed24DP)
.semantics {
traversalIndex = traversalIndices[EligibleJourney.REDUCE] ?: 2f
},
type = MenuTileItemType.REDUCE_LIMIT,
enabled = viewModel.isJourneyDisabled(EligibleJourney.REDUCE.name).not(),
onClick = {
viewModel.cacheSelectedJourney(EligibleJourney.REDUCE)
navController.navigate(Screen.ImportantToKnowRoute.route)
}
)

// Menu item for 'CANCEL' journey.
MenuTileItem(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.padding(top = semanticSpaceFixed24DP)
.semantics {
traversalIndex = traversalIndices[EligibleJourney.CANCEL] ?: 3f
},
type = MenuTileItemType.CANCEL_OVERDRAFT,
enabled = viewModel.isJourneyDisabled(EligibleJourney.CANCEL.name).not(),
onClick = {
viewModel.cacheSelectedJourney(EligibleJourney.CANCEL)
navController.navigate(Screen.ImportantToKnowRoute.route)
}
)
}

[Rohit Neel]

Can TalkBack focus move automatically using semantic traversal property?

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

No it doesn't work this way, the docs contain more information

[Rohit Neel]

Ok, i have checked but don't find other way. If possible could you please check my code and suggest what semantic traversal property I can use in order to move TalkBack focus which triggers the navigation ? Because I have never worked on semantic for TalkBack focus and this issue is pending since long time

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

You can't control TalkBack focus in this way, the system has some rules and behaviour which are important for user consistency. You can help inform the order in which focus is moved but you can't redirect focus to a different item without user action

[Louis Pullen-Freilich [G]]

You can follow a bug like: http://issuetracker.google.com/issues/405795969

There are some issues here with the default behavior / restoring focus, so future changes there might improve this situation. But until then there is nothing you can really do from the user side

[Rohit Neel]

Ok thanks for sharing the details.