I have screen in my app that can represented by following layout, I would like this screen to be possible to navigate with full keyboard access but there is unexpected behavior: Path: Tap "Tab" on keyboard -> whole scrollview is targeted and inside the first button1 is selected. Arrow down -> selection changes to button3 Arrow up -> selection changes back to button1 So button2 is always skipped, there is no way to navigate to it by arrows left/right. Using Tab+F and searching "button2", button2 is correctly selected, so it's selectable but for some reason not findable by going through elements. Putting empty text in Text views cause buttons to be vertically aligned and then everything works correctly but it is not an option. public struct BugReportView: View { public var body: some View { ScrollView { VStack(spacing: .zero) { Button("button1", action: { }) HStack { Text("some text") Text("some text2") Button("button2", action: { }) } Button("button3", action: { }) } } } }

I have an ongoing activity in progress. Think of: a delivery in progress house internet reboot in progress some water / electricity / internet / tv outage. (food) order processing I want to show a persistent toast message above the tab bar, across all tabs and screens across the app. It could take 15 minutes until the activity is finished. Obviously there's a challenge of: accessibility content overlaying with each other extra engineering effort. What we've thought of doing is: Option1: show a toast message, but when a modal is presented then it presents on top of the toast message. The toast message no longer updates itself. Once the modal is finished, then the toast message re-appears and continues to update. Option2: keep the toast message across all tabs and modals and work through the challenges mentioned Question: What are some other design approaches that could be taken to persist an ongoing activity (much like 'Live Activity', but just across the app when it's in foreground) or what are some design reasons that the two options considered are bad?

Hi, I would like to asking , can I setup a. alarm to alert when phone if OFF power ? since we would like to design a timer with emergence alert. so I need a alert on even phone power is off , Thanks.

A lot of apps use undocumented App-prefs URLs to help users get to the iOS Settings screen needed to set up the app. In iOS 18, it seems like these all stopped working. Here are the ones I currently use: App-prefs:MESSAGES - broken in iOS 18 Used for SMS Protection. App-prefs:Phone - broken in iOS 18 Used for Live Voicemail, Silence Unknown Callers, and SMS Reporting. Some but not most paths have specific documented replacements. E.g. for Call Blocking & Identification you can use CXCallDirectoryManager.sharedInstance.openSettings() and this still works in iOS 18. But I don't see any other direct replacements. Apple probably doesn't consider this a bug but I filed FB14378568 anyway. I consider this an accessibility issue because many older, inexperienced, or users with disabilities have trouble finding the right Settings screen based on a textual description alone.

I'm reposting here my FB17602742, submitted yesterday: The strong wording of this message comes from years of Apple ignoring the needs of users who can't tolerate UI animations and convulsions. At this point, it's clear that Apple is either intentionally harming users like me or simply doesn't care about meeting even the most basic accessibility standards on macOS. Yes, many UI animations and convulsions can, fortunately, be disabled - but not through straightforward UI controls. Instead, users are forced to look for obscure Terminal commands found scattered across the Internet. The "Reduce motion" checkbox in System Settings is simply a fake control that doesn't do anything - instead of actually disabling all UI animations and convulsions. What's worse, two of the most offensive UI animations cannot be disabled at all. Apple has consistently dismissed requests to let users disable the following UI animations: Scroll bar rollover highlight effect (introduced on macOS 10.7.3). Every time the cursor passes over a scroll bar, it gets highlighted. This draws the user's attention to random scroll bars for no reason - just because the cursor happened to pass over them. It results in HUNDREDS of unnecessary, annoying events of distraction daily!
 Expand/collapse animation of NSOutlineView (e.g., when opening/closing folders in the list view in the Finder, or any other app using outline views). This animation is extremely distracting, irritating, and time-wasting. Global Accessibility Awareness Day is approaching. Dear Apple, Please adhere to the most basic accessibility standards. Stop the needless suffering of countless users like me. Let us disable the two aforementioned UI convulsions. Thank you for your attention to the issue.

I have a button with the following properties: accessibilityLabel: "Action Button", traits: "Button", accessibilityHint: "Performs the main action". The voiceover reads the button as follows: Action Button, Button, Performs the main action. I want to understand how to configure it to only speak the accessibilityHint or only the accessibilityLabel and never speak the traits. In another example, a switch has the traits: Button, and Toggle. So these traits are a part of what the voiceover speaks. I want only the accessibilityLabel or accessibilityHint to be spoken in this case. Please let me know how. Thanks

I am invoking the UIImagePickerController of type UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypePhotoLibrary from my viewController. I want shift the keyboard focus to the Cancel button which is the first interactive element on the gallery picker. When a user has full keyboard access turned on they should be able to tap tab and interact with the gallery picker modal. How do I achieve this?

I'm facing a bizarre issue with the Apple's Accessibility APIs. I am registering an AXObserver that listens for, among other things, the kAXSelectedTextChangedNotification. For many new users, the kAXSelectTextChangedNotification is not triggered, even though they have enabled Accessibility permission for the app. Other notifications are getting through (kAXWindowMovedNotification, kAXWindowResizedNotification, kAXValueChangedNotification etc - full list here), just not the kAXSelectedTextChangedNotification! We've found that we can reproduce the error by removing accessibility permission for the app and rebooting our computers. After restarting and reenabling accessibility permissions, the kAXSelectedTextChangedNotification was not received, even though other notifications were fine. Strangely, the issue can be resolved by launching Apple's Accessibility Inspector app on an impacted computer. Once the Accessibility Inspector is loaded, the kAXSelectedTextChangedNotifications start coming through as expected. This implies to me that either: We are missing some needed setup when starting the observers. Accessibility Inspector gets it right, thus ‘starting’ the system properly. Accessibility Inspector is using some Apple private APIs that we don’t have access to. Things I’ve tried: I've tried subscribing the AXSelectedTextChangedNotification to different AXUIElements, including the SystemWide element, the Application element, and children elements from the AXApplication. None of these received the kAXSelectedTextChangedNotification, until Accessibility Inspector is booted up. No surprises here, as Apple's documentation confirms that you should add the notification to the root Application AXUIElement if you want to receive notifications for all its children. I had a theory that the issue might be due to my code calling AXUIElementCreateApplication multiple times, possibly creating multiple "Applications" in Apple's Accessibility implementation. If that’s the case, the notifications might be sent to the wrong application AXUIElement. However, refactoring my code to only call AXUIElementCreateApplication once didn't resolve the issue. I thought the issue may be caused by subscribing the AXSelectedTextChangedNotification on the high-level application element (at odds with Apple's documentation). I've tried traversing the child AXUIElements until we find one with the kAXSelectedTextAttribute and then subscribing to that. This did not resolve the issue. I don’t think it's the correct path to continue exploring, given that the notifications are received correctly after AccessibilityInspector is launched. There is one exception to the above: if I add the kSelectedTextChangedNotification listener to a specific text field AXUIElement, I do receive the notification on that text field. However, this is not practical; I need a solution that will work for all text fields within an app. The Accessibility Inspector appears to be doing something that causes the selected-text-changed notifications to be correctly passed up to the high-level application AXUIElement. Another thought is that I could traverse the entire Accessibility hierarchy and add listeners to every subview that has the kAXSelectedTextAttribute. However, I don’t like this long-term solution. It will be slow and incomplete: new elements get added and removed frequently. I just want the kAXSelectedTextChangedNotification to be received by the high-level Application AXUIElement, which the documentation suggests it should be. I also have evidence that this can work, since notifications start coming through after Accessibility Inspector is launched. It’s just a matter of discovering how to replicate whatever Accessibility Inspector is doing. An interesting wrinkle: I implemented the 'traverse' strategy above, but was surprised by how few elements were in the hierarchy. Most apps only go down ~2-3 levels, which didn't seem right to me. Perhaps the Accessibility tree isn't fully initialized? I tried adding a 5-second delay to allow more initialization time, but it didn't change anything. Does anyone have any ideas? Here's our file.

I'm developing a macOS app using NSView and trying to make my content navigable via VoiceOver. I'm expecting the built-in rotor category "Content Chooser" (accessed via VO + U) to list my accessible elements — just like how it shows message items in the Mail app. However, in my app, this rotor appears empty, even though: My views return proper accessibilityChildren() or accessibilityContents() with valid NSAccessibilityElements Each child has correct AXRole, AXLabel, etc. The window is key and visible VoiceOver navigation works for the elements I've also tried: Using both accessibilityChildren() and accessibilityContents() in container views Setting roles like .group, .staticText, .button, etc. Avoiding hidden elements Ensuring all elements are visible and labeled Still, "Content Chooser" rotor is empty. What exact conditions must be met for an element to appear in the "Content Chooser" rotor in a macOS app? Any Apple-specific guidance, hidden requirements, or sample code would be appreciated.

Hi everyone, I'm a first time app developer and have been going through the App Store review process for a project I’ve been working on—AquaGUIDE, an accessibility-focused app that pairs with a custom BLE-enabled swim cap designed to help visually impaired swimmers navigate independently. The swim cap device and app have been thoroughly tested and work well together, but I’ve run into challenges getting the app approved, and I’m hoping others might have experience or insight to share. Key Features That May Be Tripping Up Review: Automatic BLE pairing with the cap when in range (connectivity not needed when user is in mid swim) Frequent connect/disconnect cycles in a single session (this is intentional and expected in open water) Auto sending a swim summary over BLE once reconnected, if one exists (won't exist if swim is not yet complete or is canceled due to emergency triggered) The app doesn't send data externally or to the cloud, everything stays local between the phone and the cap. So far, App Review hasn't explicitly rejected for these reasons, but the review team has been confused or inconsistent in their feedback, and I suspect these technical behaviors might be the cause. I want to stay compliant but also preserve the accessibility-first workflow of the device (automatic syncing rather than button or prompt). What I'm Looking For: Has anyone had success getting accessibility-focused apps with external BLE hardware through review? How have you framed automatic pairing or background syncing in a way that Apple accepts? Are there specific guidelines or Apple documentation I can point to for support? Should I consider requesting a review call or filing an appeal? Any guidance, lessons learned, or similar examples would be deeply appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

I want to understand which component types are intended to have an associated hint text, haptic feedback, or earcon associated with it for VoiceOver screen reader users. Is there a list somewhere or a HIG guideline for which transition types should have a sound? Some transitions in Apple apps generally include different beep sounds, such as opening a new screen screen dimming when a VoiceOver user swipes from the header / navbar to the body a scraping sound when swiping up or down a page. the beginning or end of the body section in Calculator when swiping from one row to the next. opening a pop up menu I would also appreciate any direction on what code strings are associated with these sounds and how custom components can capture these sounds or haptics or hints where it is expected? On the other hand, I don't want to get that info and then dictate that every component needs a specific beep type since these sounds appear to be used for specific purposes.

Hello, I had submitted a question to clarify which components have accessibility APIs that trigger haptics for VoiceOver users https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/773182. The question stems from perhaps a more direct question about specific components: do tablists and disclosures natively intend to include haptics or screen reader hint or other state or properties to indicate to screen reader users where the component begins or ends? In some web experiences there are screen reader hint text stating "end of..." or "entering" as a way to define the boundaries of these inline dialogs. I had asked about haptics in the prior thread because I do not recall natively implemented version of this except in some haptic cues but have not experienced them consistently so I am not sure if that is an intended native Swift implementation or perhaps something custom.

When my macOS Cocoa app displays a modal alert with beginSheetModal(for:completionHandler:), VoiceOver sometimes seems to focus on an "illegal" upper level, where any attempts at navigation will give the unhelpful response "Alert, dialog", until you "drill down" with VO + shift + down or switch apps. After that, things will work as expected. Is this a known bug? Does it happen to anybody else, or am I doing something wrong?

I've just received an email from Apple regarding the Global Accessibility Awareness Day and some forthcoming sessions to promote their accessibility features. What a joke. For many years, Apple refuses to provide the most basic accessibility requirement on macOS: LET USERS DISABLE ALL NON-CONSENSUAL UNSOLICITED ANIMATIONS AND OTHER UI CONVULSIONS. The scourge of animations started from macOS Lion. Yes, many of them can be, fortunately, disabled through some obscure Terminal commands (that is, if the user is lucky enough to discover them on some obscure internet resources). The "Reduce motion" control in System Settings is a fake option that doesn't do anything. And there are two most glaring accessibility violations that cannot be disabled: Scroll bar rollover highlight effect introduced on macOS 10.7.3. Every time you move the cursor over a scroll bar, the bar gets highlighted. It results in bringing the user's attention to random scroll bars for no reason whatsoever just because the cursor happens to pass over the bar at some point. HUNDREDS of unnecessary, annoying events of distraction daily! Expand/collapse animation of NSOutlineView (such as when we open/close a folder in the list view in the Finder, as well as any other app that's using outline views). It's extremely annoying, distracting, and time-wasting. All feedback submitted about this through the years remains mostly ignored (except for a few cases where I received some ridiculous replies from employees who, apparently, are barely familiar with Macs in general). Apple does NOT care about accessibility. Not only this, but it's obvious that Apple is, in fact, intentionally abusing those users who can't tolerate distracting, time-wasting animations and UI convulsions.

I’m trying to understand the best practice for assigning accessibilityTraits to a UITableViewCell that users can select from a list of options. In Apple’s first-party apps like Settings, I’ve noticed an inconsistent approach—some cells use the Button trait, while others simply announce the label along with the Selected trait when applicable, without any additional role like Button or Adjustable. So my question is: What is the most appropriate accessibility trait to use for a selectable table view cell that updates a selection (like a settings option)? Is using .button the right approach, or should we rely solely on .selected? Is there any user experience guideline from Apple that recommends one over the other? Would love to hear how others handle this for clarity and consistency in VoiceOver behavior.

I have a TextField and entered for example "sg?!". At the TextField I set the modifier speechAlwaysIncludesPunctuation(). But when I activate VoiceOver the content of TextField is reading. The special characters don't read out. How can I fix this?

I have a parent view containing 10 subviews. To control the VoiceOver navigation order, I set only a few elements in accessibilityElements. However, the remaining elements are not being focused or are completely inaccessible. Is this the expected behavior? If I only specify a subset of elements in accessibilityElements, does it exclude the rest? What’s the best way to ensure all elements remain accessible while customising the order?

I’m encountering an accessibility issue in SwiftUI related to keyboard navigation. 🐞 Problem When using an AttributedString to display Markdown content in a SwiftUI view (such as a Text view), any links included in the Markdown are not keyboard focusable when Full Keyboard Access is enabled. This means users can’t navigate to or activate the links using the Tab key or other keyboard-only methods. 💻 Platform iOS version: 16+ Framework: SwiftUI Device: All tested iPhones and iPads 🧪 Steps to Reproduce Enable Full Keyboard Access in iOS settings. Run the included SwiftUI Playground or equivalent app using the code below. Try to navigate to the link using Tab or keyboard arrow keys. Observe that the Markdown link is not reachable via keyboard focus. 🧩 Expected Behavior The Markdown link should be reachable via keyboard focus. It should be possible to activate the link using Space or Return. 📚 Example code struct ContentView: View { let attributedString: AttributedString init() { self.attributedString = try! AttributedString( markdown: "This is a [test link](https://apple.com) inside an attributed string." ) } var body: some View { VStack { Text("Issue: Attributed Markdown Link Is Not Focusable with full keyboard access") .font(.headline) .padding() Text(attributedString) // The link is not focusable with .padding() .border(Color.gray, width: 1) Text("Expected: The link should be focusable with Full Keyboard Access.") .foregroundColor(.red) .padding() } } }

Hello! I was faced with unexpected behavior of hardware keyboard focus in UITests. A clear description of the problem When running UITests on the iOS Simulator with both "Full Keyboard Access" and "Connect Hardware Keyboard" options enabled, there is a noticeable delay between keyboard actions for focus managing (like pressing Tab or arrow keys). The delay seems to increase with repeated input and suggests that events are being queued instead of processed immediately. I will describe why I have such an assumption later. A step-by-step set of instructions to reproduce the problem Launch the iOS Simulator. Enable both "Full Keyboard Access" and "Connect Hardware Keyboard" in the Simulator settings. Run a UITest on a target application (ideally an endless or long-running test). Once the app is launched, press the Tab key several times. Observe the delay in focus movement. Optionally, press the Tab or arrow keys rapidly, then stop the UITest. After stopping, you’ll see a burst of rapid focus changes. What results you expected We expected keyboard actions (like Tab) to be handled immediately and the UI focus to update smoothly during UITests. What results you saw There was a 4–10 (end more) second delay between pressing keys and seeing a response. All stacked keyboard events (used for managing focus) are performed all at once after stopping the UITest. The version of Xcode you are using Xcode: Version 16.3 (16E140) Simulator: iPhone 16 Pro (iOS 18.4 and 18.1) Simulator: iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) (iPadOS 17.5)

Please update Accessibility OS Settings for VoiceOver in iPhone iOS and iPadOS to include frames on the Rotor, and to make web navigation and component gestures easier to find and assign. Please add content to the iPhone and iPad Apple User Guide to use VoiceOver in web navigation with touch gestures. Specifically... iframes. There is no clear guidance in Apple documentation for VoiceOver users in iPhone or iPadOS to access iframes with touch gestures. A common belief as written on AppleVis, other blogs, and internet searches is that iframes in Safari or a webView in an app are only available with explore by touch. If explore by touch is the only option for some interactions, that needs to be included in Apple User Guides. If not, details on equivalent touch gestures for VO that have keyboard interactions in Mac need to be clear for users. VoiceOver for Mac includes a default keyboard interaction of VO-Command-F in its extensive User Guide (https://support.apple.com/guide/voiceover/by-images-or-frames-mchlp2740/mac). A user can include a rotor option for web navigation for iframes. VoiceOver for iPhone and iPad does not include a default swipe gesture assigned to frames. An option is not available for the Rotor. While there is iPhone User Guide guidance that gestures can be customized (https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/customize-gestures-and-keyboard-shortcuts-iph59a8e6fd2/18.0/ios/18.0), it is not clear that for adding this gesture, "Move to the next frame" is tucked into the advanced navigation commands for VoiceOver Accessibility Settings in the OS. At least in my phone, the word "frame" was not searchable despite the All Commands screen using a search bar.