I'm sorry but I had to post this. Basically I was browsing on github in an issue thread. After typing a comment, I pressed tab and assumed quick nav (full) to work again normally. I have allow typing in text field enabled but I tried both and it gave the same result. Basically with any of the 3 mode of quick nav it was just not working at all even after rebooting VO. Tried in standard grouping as well. When I changed the site to applevis on the same tab it started working again. Sorry but this feature is much more of a headache than any useful thing. I almost feel safer with snr. Am I alone? 15.3.1 as of writing.
Also read this post of mine here. https://applevis.com/forum/macos-mac-apps/yet-another-oversight-bad-software-design-voiceover
This is not the only problem. Why is nobody talking about the fact that the find commands (vo-cmd-letter...) doesn't forcefully sync the rotor with the trackpad gestures or vo command arrow while each usage of single key quick nav does, which make something liek navigating to a heading for example and reading it word by word afterwards incredibly difficult while this features is supposedly here to help us be more productive and not the other way around?
All this means for me is yet another unpaid (almost hour now) of filing yet another feedback reports that's not even going to be acknowledge by the team.
At least the trackpad is reliable compared to this.
By TheBlindGuy07, 17 February, 2025
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Comments
I understand your frustration
I am in the field of academia and I have been reporting each single bug I come through in MacOS. Unfortunately very little has been done to fix problems and I am not optimistic about the future. Unless it was for the hardware, I won't stay a minute with MacOS.
I know my comment of no help to you, but I share your frustration and disappointment.
Student too. Well there's…
Student too. Well there's one mathml bug I reported and it was literally fixed within a month and very quickly acknowledge. So for serious (serious according to them) they're fast relatively but they just proved me that they consider their software good so the real things bothering us are viewed as a mistake on our end or the site/app, and it's this mentality that will ultimately destroy apple (and macos particularly) accessibility by the end of the decade despite apple loyalists thinking otherwise.
Quick nav again randomly…
Quick nav again randomly stopped working this morning on ovh and when the page changed to a new one, it worked normally again. It's very very random bug but it's making it very unreliable despite all the chances I'm giving to this feature, both single key quick nav and arrow key quick nav. I have no idea about how to reproduce it or know what triggers it.
Possible trigger for Single-key Quick Nav not working
I don't use Arrow-key Quick Nav regularly, but when using Single-key Quick Nav, I've found that if I focus on a text field and then immediately switch the environment, such as by switching to another app or going back or forward a page in Safari, it will stop working. I can typically restore functionality by focusing on and then moving out of another text field in the new environment. This could be any text field, which means I can restore functionality if necessary by pressing VO-F to reveal VoiceOver's find field, and then pressing Escape to dismiss it. This is with the "Always allow typing in text fields" setting in VoiceOver Utility > Commands enabled.
I can confirm the issue
I can confirm the issue. However, there is a "workaround". When I turn off the option "Always allow typing in text fields", arrow quick nav does not stop working for me except for secure text fields (which is another long-standing issue with arrow-key quick nav).
Have you tried to disable the allow typing in text fields option yet?
I did but will consider…
I did but will consider again. Speaking for password, did nobody notice that when you are in a secure text field the capslock as a VO modifier will just not work and you better have ctrl-option enabled as well or the trackpad? :)
Report it.
I'm not on the mac and know how frustrating that must sound but reporting this proves you, blind mac users, are doing your bit, and it's apple that's not.
Show them this thread, report it, or move to windows.
I understand people like their macs but I've been on windows for 20 or so years now and have never had issues like this.
Navigating on the internet is easy.
If things don't work,9 times out of 10 it's down to the website and not the screen readers.
Mac really does seam to be going down hill.
This isn't just me saying this as a windows user, windows does have its issues but from what I'm reading here and on other threads, apple just doesn't seam to care about Voiceover at all.
And when they do it's a bug that's fixed 2 or so years afterward.
I understand saying go to windows isn't popular on mac threads and I get it, but I'd highly recommend thinking about it.
The only thing is I don't have a job so can't tell you how accessible software for jobs would be. I can tell you that microsoft products work with both NVDA and JAWS but that's about it.
Sorry about that.
I was on, and still have, a…
I was on, and still have, a windows machine I bought my mac in 2023. I really considered a switch back but sequoia was good enough to make me stay, plus development is easier because of the native unix backend although depending on what you do the accessibility can be questionable. I report most of what I write on this site since a while now anyway. At least the community knows so that's already one thing.
I don't know why anyone…
I don't know why anyone would think that VoiceOver and Mac terminal outshines Windows terminal plus NVDA. NVDA can actually read by character word line etc. within the Windows terminal, plus there is window subsystem for Lennox, and we now have SuDo access.
Not to mention the third-party terminal programs that are available on Windows, like Solar Putty for example.