Accessibility - High contrast theme on activity bar inconsistent #245121
Description
Type: Bug
-
Enable any high contrast theme
-
Hover over the activity bar icons
Normal:
Some extensions (no dashed outline):
-
Click activity bar icons
Normal:
Some extensions (no outline):
Expected:
All icons behave the same
Actual:
Icons available by default are consistent, but other icons' look varies depending on Extension support.
Solution:
This issue doesn't feel like it should depend on Extension support. Understandably not many Extension developers use High-Contrast themes, so lack of support is easy to miss. This should probably be fixed upstream, so that Activity Bar icons can only behave in one way.
VS Code version: Code 1.98.2 (ddc367e, 2025-03-12T13:32:45.399Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631
Modes:
System Info
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| CPUs | Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz (12 x 2592) |
| GPU Status | 2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: enabled_on direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off |
| Load (avg) | undefined |
| Memory (System) | 23.90GB (5.99GB free) |
| Process Argv | --folder-uri file:///c%3A/GitHub/lyric --crash-reporter-id ee03a05e-9a6e-4778-8b8a-c72b2ec19706 |
| Screen Reader | no |
| VM | 0% |
Extensions (94)
| Extension | Author (truncated) | Version |
|---|---|---|
| adb-qr | Aak | 0.2.0 |
| better-comments | aar | 3.0.2 |
| vscode-icalendar | af4 | 1.0.1 |
| vscode-nginx-conf | ahm | 0.3.5 |
| Bookmarks | ale | 13.5.0 |
| vscode-sqlite | ale | 0.14.1 |
| a-file-icon-vscode | ato | 2.0.1 |
| vscode-intelephense-client | bme | 1.14.3 |
| vscode-tailwindcss | bra | 0.14.12 |
| exe-runner | bra | 1.1.1 |
| vscode-opennewinstance | chr | 0.0.15 |
| npm-intellisense | chr | 1.4.5 |
| path-intellisense | chr | 2.10.0 |
| vscode-express | Com | 0.0.5 |
| dart-code | Dar | 3.106.0 |
| flutter | Dar | 3.106.0 |
| mustache | daw | 1.1.1 |
| vscode-eslint | dba | 3.0.10 |
| es7-react-js-snippets | dsz | 4.4.3 |
| gitlens | eam | 16.3.2 |
| vscode-html-css | ecm | 2.0.13 |
| vscode-flutter-i18n-json | ess | 0.28.0 |
| vscode-gift | eth | 0.1.11 |
| vscode-gift-pack | eth | 0.0.3 |
| vscode-gift-preview | eth | 0.0.15 |
| font-switcher | eva | 4.1.0 |
| vscode-diff | fab | 2.1.2 |
| html-preview-vscode | geo | 0.2.5 |
| copilot | Git | 1.293.0 |
| copilot-chat | Git | 0.25.1 |
| remotehub | Git | 0.64.0 |
| vscode-github-actions | git | 0.27.1 |
| vscode-pull-request-github | Git | 0.106.0 |
| gc-excelviewer | Gra | 4.2.63 |
| vscode-graphql | Gra | 0.13.2 |
| vscode-graphql-syntax | Gra | 1.3.8 |
| todo-tree | Gru | 0.0.226 |
| rest-client | hum | 0.25.1 |
| discord-vscode | icr | 5.8.0 |
| better-cpp-syntax | jef | 1.27.1 |
| vscode-peacock | joh | 4.2.2 |
| vsc-python-indent | Kev | 1.21.0 |
| google-apps-script | lab | 0.2.2 |
| flutter-intl | loc | 1.19.3 |
| dart-import | lua | 0.3.1 |
| vscode-moodle-snippets | Mat | 1.0.346 |
| vscode-pdf | mat | 0.1.5 |
| asm-code-lens | maz | 2.6.2 |
| rainbow-csv | mec | 3.18.0 |
| syntax-mcfunction | Min | 1.0.1 |
| vscode-docker | ms- | 1.29.4 |
| csharp | ms- | 2.69.25 |
| vscode-dotnet-runtime | ms- | 2.3.0 |
| debugpy | ms- | 2025.4.1 |
| isort | ms- | 2023.10.1 |
| python | ms- | 2025.0.0 |
| jupyter | ms- | 2024.11.0 |
| jupyter-keymap | ms- | 1.1.2 |
| jupyter-renderers | ms- | 1.1.0 |
| vscode-jupyter-cell-tags | ms- | 0.1.9 |
| vscode-jupyter-slideshow | ms- | 0.1.6 |
| remote-containers | ms- | 0.401.0 |
| remote-ssh | ms- | 0.118.0 |
| remote-ssh-edit | ms- | 0.87.0 |
| remote-wsl | ms- | 0.88.5 |
| azure-repos | ms- | 0.40.0 |
| cpptools | ms- | 1.23.6 |
| hexeditor | ms- | 1.11.1 |
| live-server | ms- | 0.4.15 |
| remote-explorer | ms- | 0.4.3 |
| remote-repositories | ms- | 0.42.0 |
| vscode-serial-monitor | ms- | 0.13.1 |
| vsliveshare | ms- | 1.0.5948 |
| vscode-flutter-freezed-helper | mth | 0.1.0 |
| gremlins | nho | 0.26.0 |
| indent-rainbow | ode | 8.3.1 |
| material-icon-theme | PKi | 5.19.0 |
| vscode-xml | red | 0.28.0 |
| flutter-riverpod-snippets | rob | 1.2.2 |
| ssh-here | sat | 0.0.3 |
| markdown-preview-enhanced | shd | 0.8.15 |
| mcscript | Ste | 0.0.3 |
| even-better-toml | tam | 0.21.2 |
| lilypond | tru | 0.0.1 |
| errorlens | use | 3.23.0 |
| vscode-svg-previewer | vit | 0.7.0 |
| vscode-nginx | wil | 0.7.2 |
| php-debug | xde | 1.35.0 |
| php-pack | xde | 1.0.3 |
| txt-syntax | xsh | 0.2.4 |
| pretty-ts-errors | Yoa | 0.6.1 |
| save-as-root | yy0 | 1.10.0 |
| markdown-all-in-one | yzh | 3.6.3 |
| php-intellisense | zob | 1.3.3 |
(5 theme extensions excluded)
A/B Experiments
vsliv368cf:30146710
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vscod805:30301674
binariesv615:30325510
py29gd2263:31024239
c4g48928:30535728
azure-dev_surveyonecf:30548226
962ge761:30959799
h48ei257:31000450
pythontbext0:30879054
cppperfnew:31000557
dwnewjupyter:31046869
nativerepl1:31139838
pythonrstrctxt:31112756
nativeloc1:31192215
iacca1:31171482
5fd0e150:31155592
dwcopilot:31170013
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
customenabled:31248079
hdaa2157:31222309
copilot_t_ci:31222730
850i5325:31264362
968h8231:31271074
jda6j935:31233686
pythoneinst12cf:31262606
bgtreat:31268568
fh1c7952:31258891
4gafe986:31271826
31787653:31262186
3e8i5726:31271747
49da9784:31264548