linux: automatically set force-renderer-accessibility when user sets editor.accessibilitySupport

src/main.js

@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ function configureCommandlineSwitchesSync(cliArgs) {
 		'disable-hardware-acceleration',
 
 		// provided by Electron
-		'disable-color-correct-rendering'
+		'disable-color-correct-rendering',
+		'force-renderer-accessibility'
 	];
 
 	// Read argv config

src/vs/workbench/contrib/relauncher/browser/relauncher.contribution.ts

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import { IExtensionService } from 'vs/workbench/services/extensions/common/exten
 import { RunOnceScheduler } from 'vs/base/common/async';
 import { URI } from 'vs/base/common/uri';
 import { isEqual } from 'vs/base/common/resources';
-import { isMacintosh, isNative } from 'vs/base/common/platform';
+import { isMacintosh, isNative, isLinux } from 'vs/base/common/platform';
 import { LifecyclePhase } from 'vs/platform/lifecycle/common/lifecycle';
 import { IDialogService } from 'vs/platform/dialogs/common/dialogs';
 import { IWorkbenchEnvironmentService } from 'vs/workbench/services/environment/common/environmentService';
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ interface IConfiguration extends IWindowsConfiguration {
 	telemetry: { enableCrashReporter: boolean };
 	workbench: { list: { horizontalScrolling: boolean } };
 	debug: { console: { wordWrap: boolean } };
+	editor: { accessibilitySupport: 'on' | 'off' | 'auto' };
 }
 
 export class SettingsChangeRelauncher extends Disposable implements IWorkbenchContribution {
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ export class SettingsChangeRelauncher extends Disposable implements IWorkbenchCo
 	private enableCrashReporter: boolean | undefined;
 	private treeHorizontalScrolling: boolean | undefined;
 	private debugConsoleWordWrap: boolean | undefined;
+	private accessibilitySupport: 'on' | 'off' | 'auto' | undefined;
 
 	constructor(
 		@IHostService private readonly hostService: IHostService,
@@ -103,6 +105,14 @@ export class SettingsChangeRelauncher extends Disposable implements IWorkbenchCo
 				this.enableCrashReporter = config.telemetry.enableCrashReporter;
 				changed = true;
 			}
+
+			// On linux turning on accessibility support will also pass this flag to the chrome renderer, thus a restart is required
+			if (isLinux && typeof config.editor?.accessibilitySupport === 'string' && config.editor.accessibilitySupport !== this.accessibilitySupport) {
+				this.accessibilitySupport = config.editor.accessibilitySupport;
+				if (this.accessibilitySupport === 'on') {
+					changed = true;
+				}
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Notify only when changed and we are the focused window (avoids notification spam across windows)

src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/desktop.contribution.ts

@@ -341,6 +341,10 @@ import product from 'vs/platform/product/common/product';
 			'disable-color-correct-rendering': {
 				type: 'boolean',
 				description: nls.localize('argv.disableColorCorrectRendering', 'Resolves issues around color profile selection. ONLY change this option if you encounter graphic issues.')
+			},
+			'force-renderer-accessibility': {
+				type: 'boolean',
+				description: nls.localize('argv.force-renderer-accessibility', 'Forces the renderer to be accessible. ONLY change this if you are using a screen reader on Linux. On other platforms the renderer will automatically be accessible. This flag is automatically set if you have editor.accessibilitySupport: on.')
 			}
 		}
 	});

src/vs/workbench/services/accessibility/node/accessibilityService.ts

@@ -4,13 +4,18 @@
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 import { IAccessibilityService, AccessibilitySupport } from 'vs/platform/accessibility/common/accessibility';
-import { isWindows } from 'vs/base/common/platform';
+import { isWindows, isLinux } from 'vs/base/common/platform';
 import { IWorkbenchEnvironmentService } from 'vs/workbench/services/environment/common/environmentService';
 import { IContextKeyService } from 'vs/platform/contextkey/common/contextkey';
 import { IConfigurationService } from 'vs/platform/configuration/common/configuration';
+import { Registry } from 'vs/platform/registry/common/platform';
 import { AccessibilityService } from 'vs/platform/accessibility/common/accessibilityService';
 import { registerSingleton } from 'vs/platform/instantiation/common/extensions';
 import { ITelemetryService } from 'vs/platform/telemetry/common/telemetry';
+import { IJSONEditingService } from 'vs/workbench/services/configuration/common/jsonEditing';
+import { IWorkbenchContribution, IWorkbenchContributionsRegistry, Extensions as WorkbenchExtensions } from 'vs/workbench/common/contributions';
+import { LifecyclePhase } from 'vs/platform/lifecycle/common/lifecycle';
+import { IEnvironmentService } from 'vs/platform/environment/common/environment';
 
 interface AccessibilityMetrics {
 	enabled: boolean;
@@ -65,3 +70,22 @@ export class NodeAccessibilityService extends AccessibilityService implements IA
 }
 
 registerSingleton(IAccessibilityService, NodeAccessibilityService, true);
+
+// On linux we do not automatically detect that a screen reader is detected, thus we have to implicitly notify the renderer to enable accessibility when user configures it in settings
+class LinuxAccessibilityContribution implements IWorkbenchContribution {
+	constructor(
+		@IJSONEditingService jsonEditingService: IJSONEditingService,
+		@IAccessibilityService accessibilityService: AccessibilityService,
+		@IEnvironmentService environmentService: IEnvironmentService
+	) {
+		accessibilityService.onDidChangeScreenReaderOptimized(async () => {
+			if (accessibilityService.isScreenReaderOptimized()) {
+				await jsonEditingService.write(environmentService.argvResource, [{ key: 'force-renderer-accessibility', value: true }], true);
+			}
+		});
+	}
+}
+
+if (isLinux) {
+	Registry.as<IWorkbenchContributionsRegistry>(WorkbenchExtensions.Workbench).registerWorkbenchContribution(LinuxAccessibilityContribution, LifecyclePhase.Ready);
+}