Issue

In Pega Platform™, pressing the ESC key while navigating an inline editable table inside a modal dialog triggers the dirty-data cancel dialog instead of returning keyboard focus to arrow-key navigation mode within the table. Users who rely on keyboard navigation are unable to switch navigation modes as expected, which conflicts with WCAG 2.1.1 (Keyboard Access) compliance requirements. 

Symptoms and Impact

Users navigating an inline editable table inside a modal dialog with the keyboard encounter the following behavior: 

After pressing Enter to interact with a cell and then pressing Tab to move between controls (Tab navigation mode), pressing ESC does not return focus to arrow-key grid navigation. Instead, the modal's dirty-data cancel dialog is displayed, interrupting the workflow and forcing the user to confirm or discard unsaved changes to continue. 

The expected behavior, per W3C WAI-ARIA grid navigation standards, is that the first ESC keypress exits the current interactive element and restores arrow-key navigation mode within the table. The modal cancel dialog should only be displayed when ESC is pressed while arrow-key navigation mode is already active (that is, not while the user is inside an interactive cell element). 

This issue affects users who rely solely on keyboard navigation and may constitute a failure under WCAG 2.1.1 for applications with inline editable tables in modal dialogs. 

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a modal dialog that contains an inline editable table. 
2. Use the arrow keys to move focus to a cell that contains an interactive control (for example, a date input field). 
3. Press Enter to activate the cell and interact with the control. 
4. Press Tab to move focus to another interactive control within the table (Tab navigation mode is now active). 
5. Press ESC to return to arrow-key navigation mode. 
   • Result: The dirty-data cancel dialog is displayed, prompting the user to leave the modal. 
   • Expected result: Focus returns to arrow-key navigation mode within the table; the modal remains open.  

Root Cause

This is a product defect.   The ESC key event is not intercepted at the table navigation layer before it propagates to the modal dialog layer. When Tab navigation mode is active within the table, the application does not recognize the first ESC keypress as a navigation mode toggle, and the event bubbles up to the modal, which interprets it as a request to close and raises the dirty-data dialog. 

Solution

The issue will be fixed in upcoming patch releases.  

References

W3C WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices – Grid Pattern

Pega Community – Accessibility@Pega Podcast 5: Tables and inline editing

Pega Community – Accessibility@Pega Podcast 4: Accessible table interactions

Pega Community – Blog: Designing Accessible Table Interactions