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Alert messages being interrupted by VoiceOver

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From: Nick Bromley
Date: May 24, 2023 9:52AM

I'm testing error messaging on the sign in page of a website and have an
issue with VoiceOver. When submitting sign in details with invalid data,
error message text appears in a <div> with role="alert". Validation is
server side, so there is a page reload and focus is moved to the first input
field. The error message is announced automatically as expected by screen
readers, but on Mac and iOS the alert is immediately interrupted by
VoiceOver announcing information about that input field and autofill
options, so the error message text is not heard. Would this be considered a
bug or just the way that Safari/VoiceOver does things? I haven't encountered
that with JAWS, NVDA or TalkBack with Chrome or Firefox.



Other than changing focus behaviour so focus is placed on the error message
itself rather than an input field, is there a way to overcome the overriding
of the alert message?



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Nick Bromley

Director & Accessibility Consultant

Red Kite Digital Accessibility Ltd