Accessibility: Flutter-based Ubuntu Installer dropdown menus are not readable by Orca during manual disk partitioning on ubuntu 25.10

[MesterPerfect]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues and found none matching what I'm reporting.

Bug Description

The new Flutter-based Ubuntu Desktop installer has a critical accessibility issue when used with the Orca screen reader.

Dropdown menus are not readable or accessible by Orca, particularly in the manual/custom disk partitioning section of the installer.

Affected dropdowns include:

• Filesystem type selection (e.g. ext4, xfs)
• Mount point selection (/, /home, swap, etc.)
• Partition size unit selection (MB, GB, etc.)
• Disk selection dropdowns

When these dropdowns receive focus or are opened:

• Orca does not announce the currently selected value
• Orca does not read the list of available options
• Navigating the options with the keyboard produces no spoken feedback

This prevents blind and visually impaired users from safely and independently performing manual disk partitioning, making the installer unusable for advanced installation scenarios.

Screenshots of the affected dropdown menus will be attached.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Boot the Ubuntu installer
2. Enable the Orca screen reader
3. Start the installation process
4. Choose manual/custom disk partitioning
5. Focus any dropdown menu (filesystem type, mount point, size unit, or disk selector)
6. Attempt to open and navigate the dropdown using the keyboard

Expected behavior

Orca should:

• Announce the dropdown control
• Read the currently selected value
• Announce each option while navigating the dropdown
• Announce selection changes

This should allow screen reader users to complete manual partitioning independently.

Ubuntu release

24.10

What architecture are you using?

amd64

System info

No response

Additional context

• Screen reader: Orca (default version shipped with Ubuntu 25.10)
• Desktop environment: GNOME
• Issue occurs consistently on fresh installer sessions
• This appears to be a Flutter accessibility / AT-SPI integration issue rather than a hardware-specific problem

Screenshots of the unreadable dropdown menus will be attached to illustrate the affected UI elements.

[MesterPerfect]

Hello,

Just a clarification regarding the Ubuntu release field in this issue.

I selected Ubuntu 24.10 because Ubuntu 25.10 was not available as an option in the form at the time of reporting. However, based on my testing and understanding of the issue, I strongly believe that this accessibility problem is not limited to 24.10.

Since the installer is Flutter-based and the affected components (dropdown menus not being readable by Orca, especially during manual disk partitioning) are part of the installer itself, I expect that the issue will likely persist in Ubuntu 25.10 and even future releases such as the upcoming Ubuntu 26.04, unless it is explicitly addressed.

I wanted to clarify this point to avoid any confusion and to emphasize that this is a systemic accessibility issue, not tied to a single Ubuntu release.

Thank you for your attention, and I’m happy to provide any additional testing or feedback if needed.

[MesterPerfect]

I have tested the installer using Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute) daily build with Orca enabled.

Unfortunately, the same accessibility issue persists: dropdown menus in the manual disk partitioning screen are not readable by Orca.

This confirms that the problem affects the current development release and, unless fixed, will impact the upcoming 26.04 LTS.

[MesterPerfect]

A corresponding Launchpad bug has now been filed to track this issue officially:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-desktop-provision/+bug/2138547

The issue has been confirmed on Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute) daily build and affects the Flutter-based installer accessibility with Orca.