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Re: Where text exists but cannot be read by screenreader - which checkpoint?

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From: Mark Magennis
Date: Nov 10, 2023 3:09AM

This is often something I wonder about. Here's a really simple example.

<span>Password<span aria-hidden="true"> not </span>accepted</span>

Visually it says "Password not accepted" but a screen reader reads "Password accepted". Obviously this is a massive accessibility fail, but is it a WCAG violation?

The best I can think of is SC 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence - "When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined". A correct reading sequence would include all three words so the omission of one word from the sequence would seem to fail this SC.

As an aside, I would say that in all of the auditing I do, most of the biggest accessibility issues aren't WCAG failures. The products rarely have basic catastrophic issues like unlabelled buttons so most of the catastrophic issues are to do with functionality or information structures not being understandable.

Mark
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > on behalf of Kevin Prince < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Friday 10 November 2023 02:29
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [WebAIM] Where text exists but cannot be read by screenreader - which checkpoint?

That's kinda where I am Steve. It seems odd that there isn't a criteria that covers this but it does feel like it's an obvious hole in CAG - the intention of 1.1.1 is that all content is perceivable but there's really not an obvious one for this.

I do add it as a bug (thankfully we have that option) but checking whether I was missing something.

In terms of code Dean, whilst I can usually tie down the issue these ones tend not to be obvious from the code - hence I have already discounted 1.3.1 - there's no relationship per se to not be available for example.

Good to check my thoughts

Kevin

Kevin Prince
Product Accessibility & Usability Consultant

Foster Moore
A Teranet Company

E <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Christchurch
fostermoore.com<http://www.fostermoore.com/>;

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Steve Green
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2023 2:50 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Where text exists but cannot be read by screenreader - which checkpoint?

If you are doing a WCAG audit, you should not report issues in terms of assistive technology behaviour (although a lot of testers do, especially those who can't read code). You need to identify the root cause, which will require analysis of the code. Once you know the root cause, you will be able to tell if it maps to a WCAG success criterion.

Not all adverse behaviours map to WCAG success criteria, in which case you can't report it as a non-conformance. You may be able to report it outside the WCAG test report, but that will depend on whether your organisation allows that.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of <EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2023 1:18 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Where text exists but cannot be read by screenreader - which checkpoint?

In cases where screen readers fail to read specific text, and it's not covered by 1.1.1 (non-text content), you might want to consider looking into guidelines related to the structure and presentation of content. Checkpoints related to semantic structure, focus management, or ARIA roles could be relevant. Consider guidelines like 1.3 (Adaptable), 2.4 (Navigable), or 4.1 (Compatible). These guidelines often address issues related to how content is presented and accessed by different user agents, including screen readers.
Dean Vasile


617-799-1162

On Nov 9, 2023, at 8:01 PM, Kevin Prince < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

Thanks Dean, I can usually sort the solution - my issue is what checkpoint should they come under (for instance - the single line in the drop down is a selectise issue and we have a solution). Occasionally I'll see text that just isn't read: but it isn't 1.1.1 because it's not non-text content.

kevin