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Screen reading bug
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Leanne
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Jan 06, 2018 11:06AM
I use software for the blind. Recently, something changed in the web page design to make interacting with text difficult. In the sections displaying community reviews, I keep getting stuck on a group [technical term for web page element], making it impossible to read anything beyond that point. Please could you get your web design team to fix the problem. The same thing happens in the section about friend reviews.
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Sorry to hear that Leanne! Are you experiencing this on every book page? To clarify, are you unable to read anything below the headings for these sections? Can you also please let me know:– Your browser.
– The name of the software that you're using.
I am using Apple software which has a built-in screen reader called VoiceOver. The browser is Safari. My version is the latest. The problem occurs on every book page for Community Reviews. When I looked now, my reader gets stuck on the element that reads "Showing 1/10 comments". If I hop down to the next heading, I can track backwards to read the comments, but then everything is in reverse.>Jaclyn wrote: "Sorry to hear that Leanne! Are you experiencing this on every book page? To clarify, are you unable to read anything below the headings for these sections? Can you also please let me know:– Your ..."
Thanks for the added information Leanne – I'm reaching out to our engineers for assistance.
Great, thanks. Jaclyn wrote: "Thanks for the added information Leanne – I'm reaching out to our engineers for assistance."
Leanne, I've been chatting to our engineers and they've asked me to follow up with some further questions:1. What is your exact version of Mac OS and Safari?
2. An example of a page URL where this happens (any one will do – we've as of yet been unable to replicate what you're experiencing).
3. What is the page element immediately before the “Showing 1/10 comments” element.
Hello again. I'm using Mac OS High Sierra, version 10.13.1. An example of a web page is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6.... The problem occurs under the heading "Friend reviews" where I see the name "Bonnie" and the date, then the words "rated it" and an element which says "Really liked it". The "Really liked it" element is where I get stuck. It says it is a group but I can neither interact with it nor move forward or back with the arrows. I can only move down to the next heading, but then I'm unable to read my friend's review. Again, under the heading "Community reviews", I get stuck on the very next element which reads "1 of 10 reviews". The element is also a group and won't let me interact with it or move forward or back. This problem is new so I know it can be fixed. Thanks for following it up for me.Jaclyn wrote: "Leanne, I've been chatting to our engineers and they've asked me to follow up with some further questions:1. What is your exact version of Mac OS and Safari?
2. An example of a page URL where th..."
Thanks for taking the time to send us this additional information Leanne!
Hello, Leanne. Sorry you’re still having trouble with this. If the problem just started a few days ago, that does suggest a problem on our end, but I can't yet reproduce the problem myself, at least not with Mac OS 10.12. I have a 10.13 machine at home, though, so I will use that to test tonight.In the meantime, here are a couple things you can try:
1) When you get stuck on the group, try VoiceOver's commands to enter and exit a group. I think it is Control-Option-Shift-Down Arrow to enter a group and Control-Option-Shift-Up arrow to exit a group. If you try to exit the group with that command, what page element does VoiceOver move to?
2) Consider upgrading to Mac OS 10.13.2. Apple's release notes for the update say that it comes with some improvements to VoiceOver when reading PDF documents, so they might have fixed some other bugs as well.
3) You already said you were on the latest Safari, but to double-check, make sure that's version 11.0.2.
I'll post again once I've tested with Mac OS 10.13.
Hi William,Thanks for the tips. I checked my updates and realised I needed to update Safari again, so did so this morning. Now I can get past the "Showing 1/10" element under "Community reviews", although it takes a while for the page to load fully and for me to be able to do this. As for the group which contains the rating, I find that I can get past it if I click 7 times. In other words, there seem to be stars or something which my arrow picks up inside the group. Knowing this, however, I am no longer frstrated. While it is tedious to have to hear the "Really liked it" label read out 7 times, I at least can access the review that follows!William wrote: "Hello, Leanne. Sorry you’re still having trouble with this. If the problem just started a few days ago, that does suggest a problem on our end, but I can't yet reproduce the problem myself, at leas..."
Hi, Leanne. I'm glad it's working better for you now.You're right, the rating "really liked it" is visually represented by stars, so that's why you're having to click multiple times in VoiceOver to get past the rating.
I think there's a change I can make that will reduce this to only one or two clicks. You should see a difference within the next day or two. But please let me know if it actually turns out to be worse.
Hi William,Thank you for making the change to the star rating element. It now only takes a couple of clicks to get past.
However, the element that says "Showing 1-10" under the heading "Community reviews" is still troublesome. I have to turn QuickNav off [depress the left and right arrows together] and then click through each letter of the label in order to get to the review itself. The element that says "Showing 1-10" should be an image or text element, but it seems to be a group.
I'm counting on you to get this right! Thanks for your persistence.
Regards,
Leanne.William wrote: "Hi, Leanne. I'm glad it's working better for you now.
You're right, the rating "really liked it" is visually represented by stars, so that's why you're having to click multiple times in VoiceOver ..."
Hi, Leanne.I can reproduce the problem where VoiceOver gets stuck on that text when using Quick Nav. I've actually found multiple places on the page where it can happen, but it doesn't happen consistently for me.
The elements where I sometimes see it get stuck are all plain text elements, not groups, so I don't think a change to the page content will help. I have a couple other troubleshooting ideas to try, though.
I'll let you know what I find. In the meantime, I know it might be annoying, but try not using Quick Nav for a while and see if that keeps you from getting stuck. If you get stuck even with Quick Nav off, please let me know.
Hi William,Thank you for your persistence. I have also found that turning off Quicknav can sometimes help, but as you say, not always. It's tricky, but the fact is, it worked perfectly before Mac updated its version of VoiceOver. Maybe it's something you could take up with their developers?
I appreciate your help on this matter.
Regards,
Leanne.William wrote: "Hi, Leanne.
Back again. I have just visited the site to add a new book and am pleased to say that everything seems to be working perfectly now. The community review section now has a label that says "Showing 1 of 30" which is the way it used to be, and all the elements work as they should. I don't know if you changed anything since last writing or whether the fact that I rebooted my machine last night to fix another issue made a difference. Anyway, it all looks good today.
Well done.
Regards,
Leanne.
I can reproduce the problem where VoiceOver gets stuck on that text when using Quick Nav. I've actually found multiple places on the page where it can happen, but it doesn't happen con..."
