UIAccessibilityElement `accessibilityCustomActions` not working properly - ios

Question

I have created an instance of UIAccessibilityElement in order to provide a set of custom actions together with some additional information (i.e. accessibilityLabel + accessibilityHint)
The problem is that VoiceOver doesn't announce the existence of custom actions. They are there, they work, but don't get announced. Also, custom actions' hint is not being announced as well.
Any ideas?
Code to generate the element is below:
private lazy var accessibilityOverviewElement: UIAccessibilityElement = {
let element = UIAccessibilityElement(accessibilityContainer: self)
element.accessibilityLabel = viewModel.accessibilityOverviewTitle
element.accessibilityHint = viewModel.accessibilityOverviewHint
element.isAccessibilityElement = true
let close = UIAccessibilityCustomAction(
name: viewModel.accessibilityCloseActionTitle,
target: self,
selector: #selector(self.accessibilityDidClose))
close.accessibilityHint = viewModel.accessibilityCloseActionHint
let expand = UIAccessibilityCustomAction(
name: viewModel.accessibilityExpandActionTitle,
target: self,
selector: #selector(self.accessibilityDidExpand))
expand.accessibilityHint = viewModel.accessibilityExpandActionHint
element.accessibilityCustomActions = [close, expand]
return element
}()
I compute the element's frame in viewDidLayoutSubviews()
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()
var frame = view.bounds
frame.size.height = SleepAidMinifiedPlayerViewController.defaultHeight
accessibilityOverviewElement.accessibilityFrameInContainerSpace = frame
}
Finally, I need to be able to enable/disable accessibility since this view controller slides from the bottom and hides, but it's not completely removed from the view hierarchy (so VoiceOver still focuses on its elements)
func setAccessibility(enabled isEnabled: Bool) {
view.accessibilityElements = isEnabled ? [accessibilityOverviewElement, /* + other accessible elements*/].compactMap { $0 } : []
}
Thanks!

Answer 1

Any ideas?
I already created a radar about this problem: VoiceOver doesn't read out the custom actions anymore - Nov 4, 2019 at 5:01 PM – FB7426771.
Description: "Natively, in iOS 13, VoiceOver doesn't announce available actions even if they're present: example in the alarms settings, select an alarm and no actions is read out (it's OK in iOS 12) while they exist.
Moreover, if I create an element in an app with custom actions, they won't be announced in iOS 13 but they can be used if I know they're here (up and down swipe to get them).
However, if i use an older app targeting iOS 12, my elements containing custom actions are perfectly spelled out with the "actions available" announced with an iOS 12 device while the iOS 13 device does announce them 'sometimes'.
Please correct this huge turning back in the next iOS 13.3 version because it's extremely penalizing for the VoiceOver users."
No answers since but it's important to deliver a solution in a future version: I'm looking forward to seeing this correction in the next release notes.
However, your implementation should make your app work as desired, that's not the problem in my view ⇒ there are many useful examples (code + illustrations) if you need further explanations about some VoiceOver implementations.
Make your app run under iOS 12 and notice that it works while it's not the case under iOS 13.😰
⚠️ ⬛️◼️🔳▪️ EDIT ▪️🔳◼️⬛️ ⚠️ (2020/03/17)
The problem is that VoiceOver doesn't announce the existence of custom actions. They are there, they work, but don't get announced. Also, custom actions' hint is not being announced as well.
Even if you didn't mention your iOS version you're working with, I think this is iOS 13 because this weird behavior has been introduced making itself scarce in this version: no WWDC videos or info on the Apple website. 😤
This dedicated a11y site mentioned this modification ⟹ "iOS 13 introduced a new custom actions behavior: the "actions available" announcement isn't always present anymore.
It was previously offered to every element containing custom actions but, now, it will occur when you navigate to another element that contains a different set of actions.
The purpose is to prevent repetitive announcements on elements where the same actions are present as the previous element." 🤓
Take a look at this SO answer that highlights a response from a Technical Support Incident about this subject. 😉
Conclusion: if you need to use the announcement of the custom actions on each element they're implemented, use iOS 12 otherwise you'll have to work with this new behavior that wasn't explained anywhere and is definitely not efficient for the VoiceOver users ⟹ the Apple Technical Support claims that's the way it works from now.😰
⚠️ ⬛️◼️🔳▪️ EDIT ▪️🔳◼️⬛️ ⚠️ (2022/11/15)
I haven't this problem anymore, even in iOS 15. 🥳
If you're still in the same still bad situation in iOS 16, I suggest to check you've ticked the box Accessibility-VoiceOver-Verbosity-Actions-Speak in your device settings to make it work as expected (⟹ source). 👍
However, I've had no news from Apple regarding my TSI. 😵‍💫