[material-ui][Autocomplete] Issues with clearOnEscape when using screen reader on Windows

[austin-reed-iseatz]

Steps to reproduce

Link to live example: https://codesandbox.io/p/sandbox/hungry-northcutt-d3nr68?file=%2Fsrc%2FDemo.tsx

Steps:

1. The issue can be seen from even the default demo on the component's page.
2. While using a screen reader like NVDA or JAWS, interact with the autocomplete and then try to use the escape key.
3. Observe

Current behavior

While the escape key does clear the input field, the focus on the input seems to be lost.

Videos:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15xjifFiumDYm7X7Eztf5f33-aB5qPozs/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cFjOo6-xZA-Su9qYCWAmHo4Ka_O6M8Mx/view?usp=sharing

Expected behavior

When using the escape key, the input will stay focused and the user will continue to be able to interact with the element.

Context

Ensure that users have the ability to interact with the autocomplete component when using screen readers on Windows.

Your environment

npx @mui/envinfo

  System:
    OS: Windows 10
  Binaries:
    Node: 20.12.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v20.12.0/bin/node
    npm: 10.5.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v20.12.0/bin/npm
    pnpm: Not Found
  Browsers:
    Chrome: 127.0.6533.122
    Edge: Not Found
    Safari: 17.4.1
  npmPackages:
    @emotion/react: 11.13.3 => 11.13.3 
    @emotion/styled: 11.13.0 => 11.13.0 
    @mui/core-downloads-tracker:  5.16.7 
    @mui/material: 5.16.7 => 5.16.7 
    @mui/private-theming:  5.16.6 
    @mui/styled-engine:  5.16.6 
    @mui/system:  5.16.6 
    @mui/types:  7.2.15 
    @mui/utils:  5.16.6 
    @mui/x-data-grid: 7.12.1 => 7.12.1 
    @mui/x-date-pickers: 7.12.1 => 7.12.1 
    @mui/x-internals:  7.12.0 
    @types/react: 18.3.3 => 18.3.3 
    react: 18.3.1 => 18.3.1 
    react-dom: 18.3.1 => 18.3.1 
    typescript: 5.5.4 => 5.5.4 

Search keywords: clearOnEscape

[ZeeshanTamboli]

The input appears focused but doesn't register typed values. I can only reproduce this only with a screen reader, not without it. I use NVDA on Windows.

[iseatz-zgoodwin]

Are there any news on this issue?

Just wanted to share some thoughts:

Risk Level: Critical
Why:
Pressing Escape unexpectedly breaks keyboard navigation, ejecting users out of the web app entirely (often into the browser UI or address bar).

This creates a keyboard trap escape failure, which is:
Disorienting
Hard to recover from
Affects screen reader users