Flat Review is useful when you need to inspect the arrangement of text and controls in an application's active window. Its review position is not the same as the application's keyboard focus, and its view does not automatically follow every changing piece of content.

Choose a harmless window for the first comparison. Note the application, the information you want to read and whether the window is changing, such as a progress display or refreshed results list. Establish your configured Orca modifier and keyboard layout before using its commands.

Understand the context being read

GNOME describes Flat Review as a spatial view of visible content in the active window. It is created when you enter the mode. Off-screen items are outside that context, and changes made by the application do not automatically rebuild it.

The documented toggle is Orca Modifier+KP Subtract for the Desktop layout or Orca Modifier+P for the Laptop layout. Toggle off and back on to refresh the context after the window changes. Use the commands for your actual layout rather than assuming the laptop's physical shape determines its configured mode.

Compare a known changed line after refreshing. For example, check whether a completed progress label is now read where an earlier percentage was announced. This tests the review context without treating the old reading as proof that the application remained stuck.

Return to application navigation deliberately

Flat Review can move by line, word, character or object. Moving the application's caret or focus through its own navigation leaves Flat Review. Keep these two kinds of movement distinct when describing a problem to support.

If the required item is off-screen, use the application's normal navigation to bring the relevant area into view, then inspect a fresh context. Do not assume repeatedly moving through Flat Review will reveal content that was never visible in that context.

Record whether the missing information appears after a refresh or after scrolling. If it remains unavailable, report that specific accessibility result with the application version. The goal is an accurate reading of the current visible window, followed by a deliberate return to the control you intend to use.

Sources: GNOME documentation, GNOME documentation.