Chrome implements accessibility features that let an Android accessibility service like TalkBack navigate by word/line.
For efficiency, Chrome only loads the information about word and line boundaries when a text field has accessibility focus.
This causes problems when accessibility focus moves to the virtual keyboard instead. I think this wasn't an issue with earlier Android versions because the virtual keyboard didn't actually get accessibility focus.
vtsaran@chromium.org can verify when this is fixed.
Comment 1 by bugdroid1@chromium.org
, May 20 2016