0

We've received reports from users that our app doesn't work correctly in iOS VoiceOver when using a Braille display. I've tested our app on iOS VoiceOver with sound, and it works correctly.

Is there a way to simulate a Braille display to reproduce this issue?

Dan Fabulich
  • 37,506
  • 41
  • 139
  • 175
  • 1
    What does "doesn't work" mean? I've seen cases where the wrong characters are displayed in braille, but objects can still be read and selected. Are you saying nothing works in your app. No widgets can be selected? Nothing can be navigated to? – slugolicious Jan 10 '19 at 06:17
  • Specifically, our app uses radio buttons; users report that the radio buttons don't appear on the Braille display. This renders the app unusable. – Dan Fabulich Jan 10 '19 at 15:07
  • native app (objective-c) or web app (html/css/js)? both normally work great with braille and ios, so perhaps it's something in your code, if you can post a sample of your code, then maybe we can help. but then, your OP wasn't asking how to fix the problem but to see what braille is displayed. but my point is that normally something isn't broken in braille that also isn't broken in voiceover. – slugolicious Jan 10 '19 at 20:33

1 Answers1

1

I noticed you said the radio buttons are the issue. This is sadly an iOS 12.x accessibility issue, and one I reported repeatedly to Apple. ALL radio buttons, checkboxes, text areas, and text fields which do not use external labels in text appear as unlabeled on the braille display.

This issue started at iOS 12.0, and as of yet (iOS 12.1.2) still exists. Note that, as described, when only using voice the issue doesn't exist it's solely braille display. There's no way developers can fix it directly - it's up to Apple.

There's a developer side workaround: Use normal text above the control to label it. Unelegant, I know.

Then there's a user side workaround: 4 times tap with 3 fingers copies last spoken text to clipboard, which will display the correct label for each control, but is obviously tedious.

Lastly, I found that if jumping to bottom of screen and scrolling up, the labels appear on the braille display - but disappear when scrolling back down. The displayed label belongs to the control above it.

Regards - a frustrated deafblind user & developer who can only use braille display and is slowly losing faith in Apple's accessibility.

PS. PLEASE report this to apple using the device feedback or some other way so this issue might get more attention - it's a HUGE accessibility issue for braille display users, so something Apple really should fix...

TimB
  • 970
  • 8
  • 17
  • This is my exact problem! The official way to report bugs to Apple is to file a bug (which Apple calls a "radar") as described here. https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/ All radars are private, so the best thing to do is to copy and paste your filed radar to the Open Radar site. https://openradar.appspot.com/ Once your bug appears there, other people can vote for your bug by filing duplicate radars linking to your original radar. I myself can't repro the bug, but if you post an Open Radar, I'd be happy to duplicate it. You can reach out to me on Twitter at dfabu if you'd like assistance. – Dan Fabulich Jan 13 '19 at 20:50
  • 1
    Thank you, will do! – TimB Jan 13 '19 at 21:34