Azure / Azure/aks-desktop

FastPass inconsistencies with AKS Desktop

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#167 1 comment 0 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @vyncent-t View on GitHub
a11y
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TypeScript
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Description

## Description
While testing **AKS Desktop** using **Accessibility Insights – Desktop (FastPass)**, I noticed several inconsistencies compared to the Accessibility Insights **browser extension**. These issues limit the reliability of Desktop FastPass for accessibility validation during development.

This is particularly impactful because **AKS Desktop is currently a desktop-only application**, which means browser-based accessibility tooling is not a viable alternative. Due to these limitations, I will be exploring and sourcing an alternative desktop accessibility tool to replace or supplement FastPass (see related issue #168 ).

## Observed Issues
- **FastPass Desktop scans appear less accurate than the browser extension**
- Several workflows report *no issues* in Desktop FastPass, even when known accessibility problems exist (e.g., missing ARIA labels).
- **FastPass Desktop does not work reliably in dev mode**
- When running AKS Desktop locally with `npm run dev`, FastPass Desktop often fails to detect issues or does not run as expected (at least on my machine).
- **FastPass Desktop only works consistently on the released Windows executable**
- Scans behave as expected when run against the downloaded `.exe` release, but not during local development.
- **FastPass browser extension cannot be used with Electron**
- The Accessibility Insights browser extension cannot be loaded into the Electron app, making the Desktop version the only viable option for testing AKS Desktop. The extension does not appear to be compatible with Electron.

## Environment
- **OS:** Windows
- **AKS Desktop:** Local dev build (`npm run dev`) and released `.exe`
- **Accessibility Tool:** Accessibility Insights – Desktop (FastPass)

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