I am an older, disabled user who uses several tabs and navigation in Safari. The new update adds more steps to get to tabs and navigate in Safari. Why has Apple moved away from ease and simplicity in their design language for user experience?
This is, for the very most part, a user to user support site. It's not likely that the proper party that works for Apple will read your thoughts.
A better step is to send those thoughts to Apple Feedback. Perhaps if others do the same they'll be sufficient numbers to cause OS adjustment(s).
The main Apple Feedback site: feedback
Apple Feedback for iPadOS + iOS Safari site: Feedback - Safari - Apple (choose the appropriate OS from the dropdown)
Why is Apple adding extra steps into ios26 Safari?
