1707575 - The elements from the second and the third slide of the new users Onboarding page are not automatically recognized by a screen reader software

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: Messaging System, defect, P2)

Description

[Marius Coman [:mcoman], Ecosystem QA]

[Affected versions]:

• Firefox Beta 89.0b4 - Build ID: 20210425185730
• Firefox Nightly 90.0a1 - Build ID: 20210426094327

[Affected Platforms]:

• Windows 10 x64
• macOS 10.15
• macOS 11.2.3
• Linux Mint 20 x64

[Prerequisites]:

• Have a new Firefox profile.
• Have a screen reader software installed and turned on (E.G. NVDA on Windows 10 x64, VoiceOver on macOS, and Orca on Linux Mint).

[Steps to reproduce]:

1. Open the browser from the prerequisites.
2. Click the "Not now" button from the Onboarding page.
3. Observe the behavior.

[Expected result]:

• All the elements from the second slide of the new users Onboarding are recognized and read by the screen reader software.

[Actual result]:

• Nothing happens.

[Additional Notes]:

• If after following the steps from above the page is focused using the "Tab" key, only the "Not now" button is recognized by the screen reader.
• This issue is also reproducible with the third slide of the new users Onboarding.
• This issue is not reproducible after a page refresh. If the page is refreshed the screen reader software automatically starts reading the slide.
• This issue is not reproducible with the first slide of the new users Onboarding where all the elements are successfully recognized if the focus is moved from the "Address Bar" to the page.
• On macOS, the elements from the Onboarding slide are recognized by the screen reader after pressing the "Ctrl-Option-RightArrow" keys.

Comment 1

[Eitan Isaacson [:eeejay]]

The reporter says the expected behaviour is for the screen reader to read all the elements of the page. That isn't entirely correct. Screen readers are often configured to read the whole page when it is first loaded if the user doesn't interact with it, but this isn't always the case.

about:welcome is implemented as a multi-pane interface even though it looks like different pages, it isn't. For a good screen reader experience keyboard focus should be put on the first sensible control in the new pane after it transitions. Otherwise the user will not get notified that the page's content has changed, or if they are they need to start re-enter the page and navigate it.

Comment 2

[Emily McMinn :emcminn]

Attachment: Bug 1707575 - Screen reader focus on main content H1

Comment 3

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/d3b79504b778
Screen reader focus on main content H1 r=eeejay

Comment 4

[Atila Butkovits]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/d3b79504b778

Comment 5

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

The patch landed in nightly and beta is affected.
:emcminn, is this bug important enough to require an uplift?
If not please set status_beta to wontfix.

For more information, please visit auto_nag documentation.

Comment 6

[Romain Testard [:RT]]

Bug 1710955 will bring changes to the page, I think we should uplift this if 1710955 won't break this again - Ed can you please help confirm that both are independent?

Comment 7

[Ed Lee :Mardak]

Bug 1710955 will change the upgrade onboarding, which is implemented separately from this about:welcome onboarding. These are independent.

Comment 8

[Romain Testard [:RT]]

Thanks Ed
Confirming here that uplift is needed for this bug.

Comment 9

[Emily McMinn :emcminn]

I'll write the uplift request, thanks for confirming!

Comment 10

[Emily McMinn :emcminn]

Comment on attachment 9220691 [details]
Bug 1707575 - Screen reader focus on main content H1

Beta/Release Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: Second and third screens of about:welcome will not be accessible via screen reader.
• Is this code covered by automated tests?: No
• Has the fix been verified in Nightly?: No
• Needs manual test from QE?: Yes
• If yes, steps to reproduce: Turn on the system's screen reader (for ex. VoiceOver on mac, Narrator on Windows) or another third party screen reader, and navigate to about:welcome.
  Click "not now" to navigate to the second screen; the screen reader should read out the main content H1 ("Bring it all with you"). Some other information may also be read.
  Click "not now" to navigate to the third screen, and the screen reader should again read out the main content H1 ("Make it your own").
• List of other uplifts needed: None
• Risk to taking this patch: Low
• Why is the change risky/not risky? (and alternatives if risky): a11y fix only; does not affect other front end styles or the behaviour of about:welcome.
• String changes made/needed: none

Comment 11

[Pascal Chevrel:pascalc (PTO until April 26)]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/9ea5234332eb

Comment 12

[Marius Coman [:mcoman], Ecosystem QA]

I have verified that this issue is no longer reproducible with the latest Firefox Nightly (90.0a1 Build ID - 20210519214756) and the latest Firefox Beta (89.0b14 Build ID - 20210518190425) installed on Windows 10 x64 and Linux Mint 20 x64. Now I can confirm that the screen elements are recognized by the screen reader as specified in comment 10.