We have a password entry field with a "show password" button. The button effectively turns the "secure text entry" textfield into a non-secure text entry field allowing the user to view what they typed in.
When VoiceOver is enabled, I am not including that button in the UI; it doesn't seem to make sense to me for the following reasons.
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If you properly test with the screen curtain, the functionality is useless. You don't see anything. I've tried to explain this to my accessibility team. It's also quite ridiculous to offer to show a blind user their password, I'm sure they'd love to see it, but they just can't. This would almost seem insulting as well.
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If by toggling that button, and turning a secure text entry into a non-secure text entry, now the app is literally speaking their password aloud. This seems like a security vulnerability to me. What if someone else overhears the password spoken aloud.
The accessibility team is insisting that I need to include the "show password" button when VoiceOver is enabled. This is the response I received.
"functionality should be the same for VI users as for sighted users. It may happen that a VI user wants to check what is typed into password field in order to correct mistakes".
Again, I don't agree with that because functionality should not be the same. Functionality should be changed and altered as necessary to make the user experience as accessible as possible.
And in this scenario, to me the functionality doesn't make sense at all in a VoiceOver setting.
Any thoughts on this? Am I incorrect here? Are there benefits of including a "show password" button to a user utilizing VoiceOver? What should then the functionality be? Speak the password aloud?
Thanks.
When designing an experience for blind users, it's important to ensure they have access to the same tools as sighted users, like being able to check their passcode.
Whoever is giving you accessibility guidance has the right idea. Indeed, it will result in the password being read aloud, but the user is aware of that when they press the button to display the password. It’s akin to a non-VO user pressing the button and someone being able to look over their shoulder.
Your password text field should not have altered behavior when VoiceOver is on.
