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Investigate compatibility of Apple's screen reader VoiceOver
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Description

VoiceOver, a screen reader by Apple Inc., is used in macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and other OSes by Apple. Perhaps the compatibility of Apple's VoiceOver on primarily macOS, iOS, and iPadOS should be investigated. Which versions of those OSes should be supported in regards to VoiceOver?

EDIT: Per T375357#10212705, the VoiceOver's pronunciation of certain words, like "skateboarders" or "skateboarder", has improved on no earlier than iOS/iPadOS 16.

Recommendations

  • iOS/iPadOS version: 16.0 or later
  • macOS version: (to be determined)

Event Timeline

gh87 created this task.Sep 23 2024, 5:57 AM
Restricted Application added a project: Wikipedia-iOS-App-Backlog. · View Herald TranscriptSep 23 2024, 5:57 AM
Aklapper removed subscribers: ABorbaWMF, • scblr, Volker_E and 3 others.Oct 1 2024, 8:30 AM
HNordeenWMF subscribed.Oct 1 2024, 9:01 PM

Hi @gh87 , the iOS App is currently only available iOS and iPad OS, and has support for VoiceOver on those operating systems. Could you say more about where you are experiencing difficulties using VoiceOver?

gh87 added a comment.Oct 3 2024, 6:24 AM

@HNordeenWMF I just tested out the VoiceOver feature for the first time. (Settings app > Accessibility > VoiceOver > turn on VoiceOver) Did some practice. My initial experience with VoiceOver was harder than I thought without some more practice. Maybe I could get used to it, but the feature is not without flaws.

IMG_0473.jpeg (1×2 px, 464 KB)
IMG_0474.png (1×2 px, 1 MB)
IMG_0475.jpeg (1×2 px, 654 KB)
from iPadOS app ver.from iPad app ver.from web browser Safari 17 (iPadOS)

In the first screenshot with my yellow highlights, the box can cover as much as possible, but the feature can read aloud just what I highlighted.

In the second, the box shape is weird and doesn't cover text. Nonetheless, it can still read aloud an article correctly.

The third screenshot is almost the same as the second. Well, if reading from the top, the VoiceOver would read browser tools and tabs and table of content. I just tap the title or opening word and then scroll with two fingers for the feature to start reading from the opening word.

The execution and intuition of VoiceOver may be an issue for Apple to handle, but I dunno whether VoiceOver is worth supporting for MediaWiki tech in the long-run.

HNordeenWMF triaged this task as Low priority.EditedOct 8 2024, 6:04 PM
HNordeenWMF moved this task from Needs Triage to Garage on the Wikipedia-iOS-App-Backlog board.

Hi @gh87, thanks for sharing your explorations. When we add a new feature into the iOS app, we ensure it's compatible with VoiceOver and test navigating it using VoiceOver. You're correct in that the execution and intuition of VoiceOver is an issue for Apple to handle - it looks like you can share thoughts on improvement here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/111749.

As nothing is noted as broken in the iOS app currently, I will move this ticket to our Garage. If you find a bug while using VoiceOver and the iOS app, please file a new task for that!

If there is something in the browser/Safari that you cannot reach using VoiceOver, please file a task with the Web-Team-Backlog tag.

gh87 added a comment.EditedOct 8 2024, 9:54 PM

Contacted Apple Support, and one of agents recommended (as one troubleshooting steps) upgrading a device to iOS/iPadOS 18, which to me may have issues at this point.

Tested out the VoiceOver on iOS 12 and iOS 15. Seems that words like "skateboarders" is sometimes mispronounced on no later than iOS/iPadOS 15. On the other hand, "skateboarders" is correctly pronounced on iOS 16 and iPadOS 17. Perhaps certains words are correctly pronounced in no earlier than iOS/iPadOS 16? If that's the case, then this task should limit iOS/iPadOS versions to no earlier than 16.0 (or 16.7.10, the latest version of iOS 16 so far)

Haven't tested out VoiceOver on macOS yet.

gh87 updated the task description. (Show Details)Oct 8 2024, 10:02 PM
Aklapper closed this task as Invalid.Jan 27 2025, 1:57 PM

Closing per HNordeen-WMF's previous comment as not actionable under Wikipedia-iOS-App-Backlog and as this does not sound like a problem in Wikimedia-maintained code.

Aklapper removed a parent task: T280409: Feature Request: Add better support for screen readers.Jan 27 2025, 1:58 PM
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