The Accessibility Bugs Introduced and Resolved in iOS 13 for Blind and Low Vision Users

I updated with my iPhone 8+. Only issue I had was the phone was very laggy right after the update, then it seemed to work itself out.

I've noticed that when in the native Mail app after opening a received email using the rota to navigate by links doesn't work as per IOS12.

I used to select "links" from the rota and continuously flick down to skip through the collection of links in an email.

Now it moves to the first link, but a further swipe activates the "actions" option, instead of continuing to skip to the next link in the email.

Hi.

I'm sure it's not much comfort, but by all accounts if this release is buggy, we're not alone. In other words, there's plenty of sighted people complaining right now too.

The impression I get is that this release updated a lot of back end framework code for some of the new features, hence, the bugs. It's the blessing and the curse of voiceover being so deeply a part of the operating system, I think.

All,
As far as I'm concerned the lock screen is not working good. Overnight I received 36 notifications whilst do not disturbed was on. However, I was unable to swipe/view more than 4 of them. The vertical scroll bar appeared which it hadn't before but even then I could only see the same few items.

I don't know whether these are bugs or not but I had created a forum topic yesterday who's link I would like to paste here in case they are bugs.

https://www.applevis.com/forum/some-questions-after-updating-ios-13

thank you.

Hi,

I'm not sure this has been commented here by hearing aids users but now with iOS 13, *all* sound are now sent to the connected hearing aids. Before iOS 13, we could only hear VoiceOver, calls and multimedia content through hearing aids, all other sounds (notifications etc) were redirected to the iPhone speaker. Now, each time we receive a notification sound, ti switches to the hearing aids with the usual 1 second of silence each time the commutation occurs. For me, it's a real problem and definitely a regression...
Can someone confirm (or not) that this behavior is still present in iOS 13.1?
I'll try to send an e-mail to Apple accessibility although I don't really think it will help since 13.1 is about to be released...

Thanks

Dear Everyone, I encounter various bugs after update to IOS13. First of all, I find that the remote volume control on earpod does not work reliably. Another issue is that the preview on link or e-mail message is no longer readable, but just a preview image which is not accessible for visually-impaired people. I hope the bug will be fixed in IOS13.1.

Is anyone else seeing what I commented in comment #1? I've tried iOS 13 on three different devices now.
This has been an issue since iOS 13 public beta 1 on my iPhone 6S. It has been an issue on iPad OS 13.0 beta 1 on my iPad 6th gen.
And now it's an issue on my iPhone XR on the official release.
However, on an iPhone 7+ that I borrowed from someone, it isn't. I don't know what's going on.

Hi, I have not updated my primary device that I use MFi with to iOS 13 yet, I am holding out for 13.1. I wanted to ask you though if you have checked the Audio Routing option to make sure it has not changed? Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices. Then tap Hearing Devices > Auto Routing. I t looks like the default is automatic for both phone calls and media. What is the media setting set to on your device now?
I suppose if push comes to shove you could turn off ringtones in that same area although I hope that is not necessary.
I totally understand the inconvenience of having a notification sound cutting into the aid's audio though. So hope this works for you.

Sometimes I get this message when I am using the phone. I did not want voiceover to say it. Can I stop it from doing so? Also something not related. Chimes in OS 6 is not working. I just heard someone else is having same problem. I set it up but is not working. I have apple watch 3.

I can’t seem to get anything to go through my echo or my Google Home Mini when I’m connected with Bluetooth. Am I missing something? Is it a bug or will it be resolved? I tried practically all the steps you’d have to fix it, turning off bluetooth, going through the settings, forgetting the device and repairing it, etc., but no luck. What am I missing?
Beth

I’ve found a few bugs. Well, I’m not sure if one of them is a bug, but Braille Screen Input is just not working for me. When I turn the rotor to it, I can’t find the dots. Basically, my phone says that it’s in Braille Screen Input, but it keeps displaying what was previously on the screen. In other words, I’m not finding any of the dots at all.

This is a strange one. I’ve created an activity for the Kindle app which slows my speech right down to 55%. Nothing else, just that. When I go to open a book, the about screen appears, as usual. Everything on that screen, other than the book’s description, is read at 55%, as it should be; however, when the description is read, it’s read at the normal default speed at which I’ve set VO. has anybody else noticed this?

One change I’ve noticed, which I don’t think anybody else has mentioned here, is the fact that the buttons that used to be called more numbers, more symbols, and more letters, are now just called numbers, symbols, and letters. I like this change.

I just tried using the slide to type feature on my name for AppleVis, and I found it pretty interesting. I don’t know if it’s going to replace BSI for me, but it sure is interesting. Unfortunately, I just ran into another bug. I don’t know why this is, but I always put two blank lines before my signature. When I was using the slide to type feature, after I was done, I went to check to make sure that the number of blank lines was correct. As I navigated character by character through the return characters, the text that I’d just written with slide to type was read when I got to the second return character. I ended up having to delete all of the return characters and add them back in.

Thanks,
Shersey

Firstly, I'd like to say that BSI is now working for me. Go figure. I use it so much that when posting another comment to AppleVis, I automatically switched to it in the rotor before remembering that it was busted for me. Well, it appears I spoke too soon, as it's now working well once again.

I have come across a weird bug with it, though. Not with BSI itself, but with Compact Samantha's way of pronouncing the t-h contracttion when it's written. I use BSI with character echo on, so this jumped out at me right away. It’s pronounced like the t-h sound in the word thee.

Thanks,
Shersey

The BSI bug is one of those that happens from time to time.

I found it tends to happen to me when you use a finger to focus on the normal keyboard, then rotor to the braille keyboard, but even then that doesn't always trigger it.

Partway through writing my last comment, I had an alarm go off, and that totally screwed up BSI, and I got that bug again where none of the dots would appear, even though BSI was selected in the rotor! Good God, this bug is exasperating!
I can now explain that bug I was talking about earlier, where the t-h contraction is pronounced weirdly; I couldn't before, since BSI ate dirt on me earlier, and I couldn't remember exactly what it sounded like well enough to explain it. It sounds like VO is saying thee-h; here's the kicker, though--it only happens when the contraction is capitalized, as if you were going to write the word this at the beginning of a sentence.

Thanks,
Shersey

I just upgraded my iPhone SE to 13 yesterday, and I'm getting some of these, but not all. I haven't experienced the status bar issue on the lock screen, but it does appear when a call comes in. Someone else mentioned a bug in reminders where the date is spoken first followed by the text. I don't have any reminders right now, so can't comment on that specifically, but this seems to be a system-wide issue. For instance in the status bar, it will say "cellular, 2 of 4 bars," while before it would say "2 of 4 bars, signal strength." One bug that has existed since iOS 11, is that when you are on the home screen with nothing else running, the phone locks in half the expected time unless you have your auto lock setting set to 30 seconds. One thing I notice is fixed, when the phone prompts for a passcode, before you would not hear the password clicking sound. That has been fixed now. The home screen is really the only place I'm having issues with the status bar, within apps it seems to be okay. One more thing, if using apps the monitor your region with a geo-fence, VO used to say "region tracking on," now it says "location tracking on."

In BARD Mobile, when deleting books from your wishlist, after a while, the app will crash. I use the rotor’s delete action to delete books. After a while, the app will just crash and throw me back onto the page of the folder where I have the app placed. The app will still be open, but I’ll land either in the books tab or in the get books tab, and not back in my wishlist. I don’t know if this is an iOS 13 bug, or a bug that I just haven’t run across before with BARD Mobile. I don’t usually do a ton of deleting in my wishlist all at once like this.

The second bug I’m pretty sure is something new that cropped up with iOS 13. I was running iOS 12.4 before updating, and wasn’t getting this problem. When you press the next or previous buttons, VoiceOver will say “Space space.” When you press the rewind, play/pause, or fast forward buttons, VoiceOver will say “space.”

Has anyone else noticed these?

Thanks,
Shersey

Maybe it was mentioned but I overlooked it. The hand writing mode in VoiceOver doesn't seem to recognize anything drawn with one finger.
The two- and three-finger gestures in this mode work fine, however no character I draw is recognized whereas this works reasonably well with IOS 12.4.1. Currently testing on 13.1PB4.

I have an impression that instead of a stable version we've received the beta one. I've encountered a number of serious bugs that make me very dissatisfied. Here are some of these: I couldn't open the app store (instead the phone blocked, turned the curtain on and put the focus on to messages). After installing iOS from iTunes this issue has been resolved. Also, I can't dial favourite numbers from today widget when the screen is locked. When unlocked, it works fine. I also cannot answer missed calls from the locked screen. The action from the rotor "delete" in the mail and messages app is not announced properly. LoadStone GPS cannot locate me immediately. There are many of such bugs but i Hope they'll resolve them. When it comes to watch, I like everything they've done so far.

The voice over function that I have encountered as of the actual bug is that when you try to do the voiceover of what Voice you want it does not open it up with the voice that you’ve chosen right away it goes to the default one right away and then switches over to the one that you selected that definitely needs to be fixed and that’s one of them that should’ve been fixed in the first place that’s the one I believe that you guys missed Another thing that I believe that was missed was that it takes 10 seconds for voiceover to even activate when turning it on and then the function of the default voice that you’re using it’s not the one that you selected when you actually select the one that you want it should activate the one that you have selected not go to default and then switch over to it

I wonder if Sarah and the gentleman who were interview at this nice web page tested the voiceover? Yes or no. I have $1.00 they did not.

I wish I had found this site before I updated to ios 13. I have an iPhone 8S, and even with this update to the update I'm having issues. I suffer from light/photosensitivity and because of this update my eyes have had a resurgence of pain and irritation.

Smart Invert is still not reliable. Opening any app reinverts it, so, in general, I have a flash of white before it inverts. "Smart" Invert is not the case still, as the emoji keyboard is mainly "classic" inverted, only with a few that are "smart" inverted. The Facebook app is still having photos "classically" inverted, and only a long press will properly invert them.

While brightness now works for Smart Invert, White Point is still not working. No matter how much I play with it, the setting remains the same. Apps and notification badges are intensely bright for me, causing me pain.

Hi everyone. Forgot if I replied on this thread previously or not, but oh well. I just updated to iOS 13.1 yesterday when it came out, and I have to say once again that I've had good luck with it thus far. I'm so glad the passcode clicks are now exactly like those heard on the Mac. I noticed this too when I was at my parents' place today helping a sister out with her iPhone. She also uses VoiceOver and is very happy with it. But one thing I've noticed is that her iPhone says "press Home to open" whereas mine says "press Home to unlock." We both have the iPhone Seven. No big deal at all; it works exactly the same no matter what. Also, I was playing around a bit yesterday with customizing gestures, and it's pretty cool. So once again high marks from me for Apple.

First off, I'd like to thank the folks here, who work so diligently to give us all this content. I have never been more confident with my orientation and mobility, and with so much more because of my iPhone

On to the feedback.

I have definitely found the bug that makes sounds way louder than voice over. It happens randomly. When I have voice over volume at five percent, my text messages ring really loudly. At first I thought that was cool, because I figured apple was finally letting you control volume for separate things. But then the clicking is very loud when I type at times, and the clicking disappears altogether sometimes too. In fact, I just unplugged my headphones, so I can switch to my laptop. My mom sent me a text, and it was soft, but when I picked up the phone to reply, Voice over was turned all the way up.

I have absolutely had trouble finding the status bar on this update. Sometimes, when I put my finger right on the status bar, it'll read the battery or whatever I land on. When I swipe to read the rest of the status bar, it takes me back to the first icon in the first row of apps. I keep trying to repeat the action, and place my finger right where it last read the battery level or what have you. It's just not there. I cannot get to it. I lock my screen, and it seems to resolve that issue, but it's very troublesome. I have not found this problem yet in other apps. Just on the home screen.

As for the mail app and voice over jumping to random places in the text:
This happens to me all over the place when I am in any text editable field. I've had it on text messages, the iOS native browser, in the search bar in Spotify when I try to find songs. I thought it was just very sensitive to my taps, and I was sliding my finger up and activating the router. But it's just getting worse. I do not use a braille display, and this is happening to me.

The misspelled words is missing in all the editable text fields for me. In fact, I can't even access my router all together. I found it when I first installed the update. All my settings are configured correctly. As I write this post I'm actively trying these out so I don't post wrong information. Of course, I can find the router now, but it is defaulted to show context menu, and that does nothing when I click on it. This again, applies to all editable fields for me.

The tone that sounds when face ID unlocks your phone is something I don't regularly use. My phone is always on mute when it's on my person. However, since the update, it randomly makes that noise, even on mute. Sometimes when I don't have mute turned on, the sound doesn't play. Other times it's louder than voice over, but when I start swiping to find things on my screen, the clicking of the swipes is soft. I hope that makes sense.

For me, voice over doesn't just jump to a random location of the mail app. It does it with the native text messages app, it does it on Facebook messenger as well. It usually jumps three to six messages up, but it's hard to get back to the last thing written. Happens randomly. For me, this bug is combined with the bug mentioned right below it about voice over jumping to a totally different message in the text message app.

One bug I encountered is a bug with the app passwords and sites feature. I go in to access my sites and passwords, and it takes voice over a long time to read what's there. at first, it won't even show me the user names and passwords for each site I have stored when I click on them. It just acts like I never clicked on it, and continues to show me the list of sites stored on my phone. This also happens when I try to access the new feature that tracks your battery usage. And it even happens when I try to look at my screen time info. After a while of scrolling around with gestures, it eventually loads or reads the actual information that is supposed to be there. If I slide and go back to the home screen and open it again, it seems to also do the trick. Yes, there is a lot more information in the screen time app, but it doesn't load sometimes.

There is a bug mentioned on here that says you can't go by line when that action is selected. I have encountered this in all my text editable fields. For me, the voice over acts like it's going by line, but the cursor stays where I had it last.

I do not use any of the low vision features, so I don't encounter those bugs. I also don't take photos, or edit videos, so I haven't encountered any of those bugs either. I do not use a braille display to type often, so I haven't had those as well. I will install the latest update tomorrow. Or in a week. It took me a whole month to get around to installing iOS 12 once.
Thank you for reading, and if I have more I will post here.

This isn't a vision issue but a hearing issue. My Mom, who wears a Cochlear BAHA 5 hearing devise, pairs to her iPhone 7 to hear phone calls. I made the MISTAKE of updating her to 13 and then to 13.1.1 and she is having issues with pairing and hearing. I know Apple is aware of the issue and so is Cochlear but it would have been nice to get a warning before we updated. I did not realize it was a large update. Her phone was locking up so I was excited an update was available. Mom and I know a bunch of Cochlear recepients are having problems. I am being told this will not be fixed until the end of the week - and Apple doesn't seem to be confident of that timeframe. I am very disappointed that this class of hearing impaired was not more of a priority.

I held off updating until yesterday. I currently have v13.1.2.

I think I encountered an instance of the "volume of VoiceOver sound effects" issue mentioned in this post. I was listening to an audiobook with the BARD Mobile app and the volume suddenly increased to what I believe was the maximum volume. I was wearing wired earbuds at the time on an iPhone XR. The increase in volume was quite painful.

In 43 years of using computers, this is the first time I've ever encountered a software bug that could actually result in physical harm.

I checked the applevis.com bug database and didn't see this one listed.

So, I’m not low vis, but I depend on Speak screen for reading content to me while I drive for a long commute- 2 hours one way. I updated to 13.1.2 last night and noticed this morning that I get the “no speakable content on this screen” error for everything. I’m really upset about it. I thought at first it might be an Apple Car Play issue, but I have the same problem with my phone disconnected. I tried to select the text instead of swiping down and I get the same error, but instead of playing through my car’s speakers, the error message stops the music (playing from iTunes on my phone), plays through my PHONE speakers, and then music commences again through my car speakers. It was doing that before the 13.1.2 update.

Hmm, That's really strange. I've never seen this happen before. Sometimes I'll get the no speakable content message, but for like 99% of the time, it works om my end. I, too use speak screen when I'm reading the weather reports that are issued in one of my NOAA weather apps, and have rarely had issues with speak screen.

With an iPhone XR and iOS v13.1.2. If a notification on my lock screen has focus and I hit the side button to put the phone to sleep, VoiceOver reads the entire notification out loud, even though the screen is blank and the phone is otherwise asleep.

Again, with iPhone XR and iOS 13.1.2. If I take my sleeping iPhone and press and hold the side button to issue a SIRI command, VoiceOver reads whichever lock screen item it last had focus on, such as the time. For example, VoiceOver speaks "apparent text 11:43". It does this while SIRI is listening, so SIRI doesn't understand what I say. If I try again two or three times, eventually VoiceOver correctly remains silent and I'm able to issue my SIRI command. But this is a real PITA.

Does anyone noticed that voiceover freezes easily. I could just be browsing the web, and it will be very slow. I am a fast mover on the screen, so that means it freezes up even more and it will take forever to finally unfreeze.

brief description:
In the a.m. hours of Wednesday, October 16, 2019 I noticed a problem in my Chase mobile application. I believe the upper right hand corner menu, Usually labeled ”my profile”, is not being announced by voiceover. When I go to drag my finger or swipe to find the button it is not available. even after conducting an item search, the menu button labeled my profile is not located.

Frequency:
Every time I open the application and visit the index page or splash page of the Chase mobile application.
how to reproduce problem:
I launch the program.

The application loads and the front page is visible.
I swipe right to search for the my profile menu button.
I cannot find or hear voiceover speak the button.

How the application and voiceover should work:
When swiping right on the index/ splash page of the application, I should hear a menu option button labeled ”my profile”.

How I resolve/circumnavigate the problem:
I launch the Chase mobile application.
The main page loads.
I press the home button three times to disable VoiceOver.
Voiceover is now disabled.
I press the home button three times to enable voiceover.
Voiceover is enabled.
I go to swipe right on the main page again and the my profile button is now found and is Audible with voiceover.

Software and hardware info:
problem reproduced on two iPhones - iPhone 7 and iPhone XR.
iOS Software Version 13.1.2 and 13.1.3 tested

Chase mobile application
Chase Mobile®
Version 3.941 and 3.940

Link to application in App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chase-mobile/id298867247
Special note:
I tested this on two different iPhones and with two different iOS software versions the previous and the latest which I just installed this morning. I feel like this is a apple voiceover problem and not an application developer specific problem, since I can resolve the issue by disabling and re-enabling apple voiceover.

Is anyone else old enough to have this ear worm running through your head?
26 miles across the sea.
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me.
Sorry. I just had to infect you.

That's a song called 26 Miles across the sea by the Four Preps. I'm only 45, but grew up with the song.

Hi all, I noticed a problem after updating to IOS 13.2, when I receive a notification while using the phone. The notification don’t disappear automatically. I have to dismiss it manually every time. Anyone experienced that?

I now have iOS 13.1.3 on my phone and it is still a hot mess! Even as I write this I’m dealing with the severe issues of smart and classic invert not acting as they should. When is this going to be resolved? Writing and responding to emails or filling out online forms has turned into a nightmare. Both accessibility features relating to low vision – such as smart invert - and voiceover bugs listed with ios 13 have not been fixed. You say Apple is working on resolving these issues. That is not my experience. What the hell is going on!

Notification banners not disappearing is one of my greatest annoyances. It has interrupted typing an email multiple times. Yes, you can swipe away. I’ve reported 6 times. The interruption often interferes with actions currently in view on screen.

When I ask Siri to "Read last message" or voicemail, etc, it will start saying "Possible text" and other diagnostics while reading the message. I used to do this occasionally, but it got much worse after the last IOS update.

Hi,
Another important problem in iOS 13: actions that may be present on an accessible element aren't announced as is anymore while it still perfectly works in iOS 12.
This announcement is randomly present and becomes a real problem for the VoiceOver users that can't guess that such actions are available if they aren't read out by the screen reader.
Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Many developers have noticed this problematic dysfunction and can't do anything to improve the user experience but waiting for a fix in the next iOS version.
It's so bad to notice such deplorable step backwards: it looks like no tests are made before launching a new iOS version.

I hope that a workaround comes very soon...