Making software accessible often comes down to removing small but repeated points of friction in everyday workflows. Today, on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we’re sharing recent improvements in JetBrains IDEs across several areas: compatibility with assistive technologies on various platforms, keyboard navigation, and non-visual feedback. Some of these improvements are already available, and some are coming later this year.
You can use the audio player below to listen to this blog post.
Better compatibility with assistive technologies
One of the key areas we’ve been working on is improving how JetBrains IDEs interact with OS-level accessibility tools.
Improved Magnifier support on Windows
Screen magnifiers are among the most commonly used assistive technologies in JetBrains IDEs. Until recently, the built-in Windows Magnifier didn’t reliably follow the text cursor in the editor, making navigation and editing more difficult for low-vision users. We’ve implemented support for cursor tracking so Magnifier follows text as you type, just as it does in other applications.
This builds on earlier work on macOS, where we addressed text cursor tracking with macOS Zoom. Now, the same support is being extended to Windows.
Orca and GNOME Magnifier support on Linux
With version 2026.2, coming this summer, JetBrains IDEs will allow you to use the Orca screen reader and GNOME Magnifier in supported Linux environments.
This is an active area of work, with multiple related tasks already underway. Accessibility shouldn’t depend on your operating system, and we’re continuing to improve support across platforms.
More predictable keyboard navigation
We’ve also been making it easier to move through the IDE without relying on a mouse.
Main menu access with Alt on Windows
In native Windows applications, pressing Alt moves the focus to the main menu, allowing you to navigate it with the keyboard. This behavior was previously missing from JetBrains IDEs, and screen readers, such as NVDA, would sometimes announce the system menu instead.
Now, the main menu behaves in a way that feels familiar and predictable for keyboard-only and screen-reader users, and the bright focus indicator helps low-vision users identify the selected item.
Navigating between major parts of the IDE
Another focus area is the experience of moving between different parts of the IDE interface, such as toolbars, panels, and the editor. We’re working on a more structured model for navigating through the big component groups:
- Tab and Shift+Tab move the focus within the current area.
- A dedicated shortcut lets you jump between larger sections of the IDE.
This reduces the effort required to reach essential controls and makes the overall layout easier to navigate. For the current iteration, we made it possible to bring the main toolbar and status bar into focus, and we fixed the Project and Git toolbar widgets, which were not selectable by screen readers, even though other elements already were.
As the next step, we’ll polish specific controls and include tool window bars on both sides of the IDE frame in the navigation flow.
Exploring richer non-visual feedback with audio cues
Accessibility is not only about reaching controls, but also about understanding what’s happening while you work. We’re exploring ways to provide richer audio feedback in the IDE. Two directions we’re currently investigating:
- Contextual signals when the caret lands on lines with errors, warnings, breakpoints, or version control changes. We want the IDE to provide immediate, non-visual feedback in context.
- More general audio notifications for IDE actions and state changes.
The goal is to reduce the need to rely on visual indicators or switch contexts just to understand what changed. Instead, we want the IDE to provide that information more directly.
Accessibility as an ongoing effort
We’re improving accessibility in JetBrains IDEs across multiple areas at once, including by providing compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers and magnifiers, as well as by offering more consistent keyboard navigation and clearer feedback for events that are otherwise mostly visual.
These improvements build on earlier updates, such as support for VoiceOver and NVDA, a high-contrast UI theme, and color schemes for red-green vision deficiency. There’s still more to do, and we’ll continue working in this direction.
We’d love to hear from you
We’re eager to hear from developers who rely on accessibility features, as well as from anyone interested in improving the experience of using them.
If you have ideas or feedback about accessibility in JetBrains IDEs, you can reach us directly at [email protected]. You can also report issues through YouTrack or the support request form.
If you’d like to stay informed about accessibility improvements, you can subscribe to updates here.
