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Re: Mobile Accessibility: Visible focus on Mobile with screen reader "On" and Keyboard Test

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From: tim.harshbarger
Date: Oct 12, 2023 11:11AM

So I am curious about something.

My understanding is that if you are using a screen reader, like Voiceover on iOS, there is a screen reader focus rectangle that does appear when you turn the screen reader on. However, there is absolutely no way a site can control how that screen reader focus indicator appears. That is completely determined by the screen reader alone. The keyboard focus indicator (which a site could control) is a separate thing from the screen reader focus indicator. That focus indicator is only going to appear if the keyboard focus moves to that element--which is not how swiping with a screen reader like Voiceover works.

If you want to see the focus indicator on a mobile device, you either need to use a keyboard or an assistive technology that more closely emulates the keyboard experience (like a switch).

Skip links can be invisible when the page loads, but they should become visible as soon as keyboard focus is moved to that link. So again, you would need to test with a keyboard or similar on a mobile device because swiping through the interface with a screen reader won't trigger a keyboard focus event.

At least, the above is my current understanding of how it works.

Thanks,
Tim