As of Sonoma, VoiceOver no-longer reads dynamic content in the Wordpress block editor. For example if you press the forward slash (/) on an empty block to bring up the block list, VoiceOver won't read the suggestions. This occurs even with the option to report dynamic content changes enabled in Voiceover utility. Are any other Wordpress users out there experiencing this and does anyone have a fix or know what caused this to break? Reported to Apple Accessibility but I no-longer hold out any hope that anything will get fixed by Apple.
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Still working for me
I just verified that this is still working fine for me. My blog is hosted on WordPress.com, so your WordPress version may be different. I also tested with Safari which is not my favorite to use with WordPress, but Chromium-based browsers keep acting more and more strange for me, so Safari has somehow become the more reliable option.
Interesting
Thanks for your response. This is interesting. I'm using self-hosted Wordpress, the latest version (6.4 I think). I have several sites hosted on the same server and I'm seeing the issue on all of them, and also on 2 different Macs. Everything worked fine before upgrading to Sonoma, first the Beta and now the retail release. No trouble with NVDA in Chrome via UTM.
Not yet on Sonoma
I'm not seeing this on the latest Ventura, 13.6.1. I'll try Sonoma when 14.2 is released.
I've never used the block…
I've never used the block editor in mac os. I find Safari to be just sluggish enough that for this, I prefer booting in to Windows and doing it with Edge. But, if you are seeing this consistently and others begin to find the same thing, it might be worth mentioning to wordpress devs, because sadly I can see them getting a fix out faster than Apple.
submitted as bug report
Just submitted as a Gutenberg issue. hopefully it can be resolved that way instead of relying on a fix for Voiceover, though I suspect it has something to do with the way Voiceover handles dynamic content as it works vine with NVDA under Chrome in windows 11.
Unable to replicate in Chrome/Edge
Glad you filed a bug report, but for what it's worth, I'm still unable to replicate this, tried in Edge and Chrome in addition to Safari. Have you tried toggling the live region setting in VoiceOver? I know that live region shouldn't impact this, but I wonder if that control changes the behavior of all dynamic content, not just content via live regions as the name would suggest. Also, "always allow keyboard commands to navigate web sites" I have toggled off. Only calling that out in case your key presses, specifically arrow keys, aren't getting through to Gutenberg for some reason.
No luck with live regions
Thanks Steve. I tried enabling live regions and still no luck, allow keyboard commands is off. I've also played around with various block editor preferences with no luck. The list box to select a block does appear, it's just that Voiceover doesn't seem to initially recognise it. I've found that pressing /, then shift tab to 'change format', then stop interacting, then move to the bottom of the page works and allows VO to focus on the list box.
wrong place to report
Apple accessibility? You might have reported it to the wrong team - it could not be an Apple related problem.
Try to report it to Gutenberg team, Gutenberg is WordPress's block editor.
https://github.com/wordpress/gutenberg
But, if you have a self-hosted WordPress site (not WordPress dot com) I'd suggest you to install latest version of Gutenberg as a stand-alone plugin.
I am sorry, I can't help you further as I don't use mac any longer, and, at least, my old mac computer is not compatible with Sonoma; unfortunately, not encountering this problem due to the fact I use Windows, I can't submit the issue to Github myself.
By the way, verify if Gutenberg's latest build could solve the problem if you are using a self-hosted blog; I can't assure it works anyways.
I'm a user and tester, nothing to do with direct WordPress team, I've been a speaker in two wordcamps, but as long as I can I always give my 2 cents to the community.
Just installed the latest…
Just installed the latest Gutenberg plugin and the behaviour is the same as described above. Bug report has been opened.
Possible workaround
Obviously I want a fix for this bug. But here's something to try as a workaround.
1. Create a block and accept the default block type.
2. You're placed in edit mode. Use Shift+Tab to get to the block action menu.
3. Use left arrow until you get to the control that allows you to change block type.
Does that control work better than the forward slash method?
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A workaround
I've been battling with this, going as far as buying a PC just so I can use NVDA in Chrome to get around Wordpress efficiently. That said I decided to try the latest version of Firefox - and wouldn't you know, it works! Perhaps someone who is more skilled in javascript than I could take a look and see what might cause the block editor to work perfectly with Voiceover in Firefox, but not in Chrome or Safari? I haven't been able yet to ascertain what Firefox does differently, whether it is something to do with the browser engine or perhaps the way it handles keyboard input. But it seems like for now if you're a wordpress user the latest firefox is the best browser to work with the block editor.
Can't reproduce
Four months ago, I promised to upgrade to 14.2 and take a look at this. I finally upgraded. So I'm on 14.4.1, latest Safari (Version 17.4 (19618.1.15.11.12)), and latest Wordpress, self-hosted. And I don't see this issue.
From the Pages admin page, I select Add New Page. The block editor opens with focus on the title block, as noted by VoiceOver. I enter the title text and press Enter.
A new block opens. VoiceOver announces, Empty block; start writing or type forward slash to choose a block group."
I press forward slash. VoiceOver announces, "Initial 9 results loaded. Type to filter all available results. Use up and down arrow keys to navigate.."
For each down arrow press, I hear VoiceOver announce, Header, Gallery, List, Quote, etc.
I press Enter on Quote, and I have a Quote block type.
This is really weird. You don't see the problem in Firefox. I doubt it's a plugin conflict. It's just bizarre. Keep us posted on this one.
Re: Can't reproduce
Very interesting, thanks for your further testing. If you press escape to get the message "you are currently in naviation mode", can you navigat ehte blocks with the arrow keys? I checked immediately after receiving your message, also on the latest Sonoma update, and I still have the same issue.
Navigating with arrows
Yes, if I escape out of edit mode and go to navigation mode, I can navigate the blocks using up and down arrow.
Update?
I just wondered if you've ever been able to get the block type menu to work with VoiceOver? It still works for me with Google Chrome.
Also, you asked about navigating blocks with the arrow keys. As I said, this works for me. However, VoiceOver has a serious focus lag issue. As a best practice, press an arrow key once, interrupt VoiceOver by pressing Control, and finally press VO+F3 to get VoiceOver to announce the element with focus. This makes navigating a very slow process, but it's the best way to ensure VoiceOver focus stays current with blocks as you navigate.
Re: Update?
No, still no luck. The only browser it works in here is Firefox, across 5 wordpress sites and 2 servers, 1 local for testing and 1 remote VPS. Nothing in the JS error console or any debug logs. Speaking the currently focused item doesn't work either here in navigation mode, only in edit mode. It's as if, in navigation mode, Voiceover simply doesn't see anything. I've even tried a complete voiceover reset and used the default settings with no change, and the issue occurs both on a Mac Min i(Intel) and MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon) both running the latest Sonoma.
Voiceover also has horendous issues maintaining focus - for example if navigating through blocks in edit mode with VO + left / right arrows, or tabbing through the window, focus can jump randomly all over the place - often either landing at the top of the HTML content area or on the title block. Firefox displays a few focus issues but nowhere near to the extent that Safari and Chrome do, though it is still an annoyance in complex pages. I'm also now (as of Sonoma 14.4.1) getting constant safari not responding errors in teh wordpress interface, one of the few places i never had them before.
Incredibly frustrating, especially as, like the safari bug, it doesn't seem to be universal to everyone. I've resorted to buying a cheap PC so I can run NVDA and Chrome to get some real work done and am now reliving the frustration of re-learning a new platform, but in reverse this time.