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[A11Y] Mac reads Selection replaced when typing in an editor #175
Description
Type of Accessibility Issue
Other (describe below)
Describe the Issue
On a Mac, I hear "selection replaced" whenever I start typing text in the editor. This occurs whether the editor is open to a blank file or whether I am editing an existing file. This is likely related to the way VoiceOver bahevs with auto-complete defaults. Since I am new to VS Code, I am using the default settings and am not sure what I should potentially disable, or if there is a VoiceOver verbosity setting that would resolve this. Once the solution to this is found, my recommendation would be to add the solution to the documentation as an optional recommendation specific for Mac users. I would be happy to help test and document.
Steps to Reproduce
- open the editor
- type a cahracter, message will be spoken.
- Alternatively open an existing file in the editor
- type a character anywhere in the document, even within existing text. Message will be spoken when the first character is typed.
Screen Reader
VoiceOver (macOS)
Browser
Google Chrome
Operating System and Version
Mac Tahoe 26.3
Relevant WCAG Success Criterion (if known)
None
Impact on Your Workflow
It's more annoying than anything else, but could give the impression that something is actually being replaced which could lead to confusion.
Additional Context
No response
Activity
taylorarndt commentedon Mar 8, 2026
@ssawczyn I am looking into this
taylorarndt commentedon Mar 8, 2026
Thanks for the detailed report @ssawczyn! I wasn't able to reproduce the "selection replaced" announcement on my end. When I tested VS Code with VoiceOver, it announced "new line" for every character typed rather than "selection replaced", so the behavior may vary by VS Code version or VoiceOver settings.
Did you try this on VS Code Insiders? It may behave differently as it includes the latest accessibility improvements.
A few things worth trying:
1. Disable macOS Text Replacements
macOS text replacements can interfere with VS Code and trigger unexpected announcements:
2. Adjust VoiceOver Verbosity
VO + F8)This is a complex accessibility interaction between VoiceOver and VS Code. It may be worth potentially escalating to Microsoft via the VS Code GitHub repository. Tagging @accesswatch as they may be able to help investigate further.
Please come to the Mac room during break and we can troubleshoot this together in person.
ssawczyn commentedon Mar 9, 2026
@taylorarndt Thanks for looking into this with me.
Interestingly enough, I'm getting the "new line" announcement while I'm writing this reply from within VS Code. When I edit a text file though, I get selection replaced. It would not surprise me if these two things were related in some way.
No, I did not try this as I'm very much a VS Code Outsider at this point. :) I also don't want to introduce anything that might make VS Code more confusing for me given how new I am to using it. If there's a way to run both in parallel, I'd be willing to test, but we should probably connect on that outside this issue.
This did not resolve the issue. I even deleted text replacements, I didn't have that many anyway.
Editing/selection? I don't see verbosity settings for these things specifically. I did look under speech and under text though and didn't see anything relevant or anything regarding text selection. Text, text area, text field, and web area are all set to default.
I am hesitent to escalate to Microsoft as I have seen similar behavior in other editors, notably editors that handle Markdown such as Joplin. I'm also not sure exactly when this started happening, it could be something introduced in VoiceOver relatively recently. I think we should still investigate this, but we might want to hold off escalating to Microsoft until we can be sure this is specific to VS Code.
Unfortunately, I saw this after the break. If you're still willing to troubleshoot this with me, let's find another time to connect and get this figured out. :)
accesswatch commentedon Oct 28, 2026
An update, @ssawczyn. Following your suggestion, Chapter 11's VoiceOver section now explains this announcement (#262). It tells Mac learners that nothing is replaced, that turning off text replacements did not help, and to add their macOS, VoiceOver and VS Code versions here. I'm leaving this open until we find the cause. Since you have seen the same thing in Joplin, it may come from VoiceOver rather than VS Code. Your macOS, VoiceOver and VS Code versions, and whether it happens in TextEdit, would tell us which.
Generated by Claude Code
docs(ch11): note the VoiceOver "selection replaced" announcement (#262)
accesswatch commentedon Oct 28, 2026
Labelled
accessibilityandhelp wanted: we would like help from someone who uses VoiceOver on macOS every day to find where this announcement comes from.Scope. Find the cause of VoiceOver saying "selection replaced" when the first character is typed in a VS Code editor, and either a setting that stops it or enough evidence to report it upstream. Chapter 11 already tells learners that nothing is replaced (#262); this issue is about the cause.
What would help
editor.accessibilitySupportis on.<textarea>in Safari or Chrome, and in VS Code with all extensions disabled (code --disable-extensions). That separates VoiceOver, the browser engine VS Code uses, VS Code and extensions such as Copilot.Done when we know which component produces the announcement, and either Chapter 11 gives a setting that stops it, or an upstream issue (Apple Feedback or microsoft/vscode) is linked here and listed in ACCESSIBILITY.md under "Dependencies and upstream blockers".
Thank you again, @ssawczyn, for the report and the offer to test.
Generated by Claude Code
accesswatch commentedon Oct 29, 2026
Reported upstream to VS Code: microsoft/vscode#345026. It is listed in ACCESSIBILITY.md under "Dependencies and upstream blockers". If you can add your VS Code version, and whether it still happens with
code --disable-extensions, there or here, that would help them narrow it down.