Multiple blocks: Keep all text formatting icons

[kdevnel]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Editing large amounts of text can be a challenge at times when it spans across multiple blocks. One example of this is that when you select multiple text blocks or even try to highlight specific text across multiple blocks all options for formatting (bold, italic etc.) disappear except for text alignment.

Describe the solution you'd like
It seems odd that you can continue to change text options like alignment but not the text formatting. I understand that you would only make formatting changes to highlighted text and not an entire group of blocks but it seems that when selecting multiple blocks when they contain text could always allow making the text bold.

This is a small feature that would help to remove the feeling that Gutenberg isn't friendly for writers who are primarily focussed on text-based content.

Describe alternatives you've considered
The issue of text selection across multiple blocks might be the underlying difficulty here. Perhaps a solution where text can be highlighted across multiple blocks would allow for a more refined approach though I'm not sure how that might even work.

[ellatrix]

This will be challenging because technically multiple rich text editors are selected. Not impossible though.

[crgeary]

In addition to losing the bold/italic options etc.

The text-alignment options do not show when selecting multiple blocks of different types. Despite both block types supporting text-alignment options.

For example, selecting multiple paragraphs will show the text-alignment option.. But selecting a paragraph and a heading together, will show no text-alignment options. Despite both blocks supporting it.

Screen.Recording.2021-08-25.at.14.27.38.mov

[bluefuton]

You're also unable to use the keyboard shortcuts to do this. I often find myself doing Cmd-A to select all blocks, then Cmd-B to remove bold styling from all the blocks. Instead this opens the Bookmarks Toolbar on Firefox, which is pretty jarring. (originally posted on #26519 (comment))

[alexstine]

I am concerned mainly with how we communicate this to screen reader users. For example, should there be built in announcements that say how many blocks just received bold? What if there are selected blocks that are already bolded and some blocks that are not?

[ktyfuller604]

I was working with a customer today who would love to see this feature implemented.

9056788-zen