Bug: Need for manual switch to Focus Mode

[DiogoRDuarte]

Describe the bug
Due to the nature of NVDA and JAWS, users of these screen readers need to manually switch to “Focus mode” in order to use the arrow keys for navigation. This change happens automatically in forms.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Turn on either NVDA or JAWS;
2. Focus one of AutoVizuA11y charts;
3. Press any of the arrow keys.
4. Verify how the focus does not change to another chart or underlying element.

Expected behavior
The keyboard focus should change between charts and underlying elements as intended.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: MacOS
• Browser: Firefox, Chrome, Safari
• Screen Reader: VoiceOver
• AutoVizuA11y Version: 1.0.3

Additional context
Fixing this would not only make the experience less cumbersome for users of these screen readers but also approximate the experience to that of VoiceOver users.

[JoaoTMDias]

Hi Diogo, can you check if you still need this opened issue? If note, please close it! Thanks!

[DiogoRDuarte]

Hi Diogo, can you check if you still need this opened issue? If note, please close it! Thanks!

Not yet addressed.

[timonvanhasselt]

Maybe a role="application" instead of role="main" can help, then screenreaders will switch off the automatic virtual focus.
I've tested it with NVDA and Jaws, but I'm not sure if it's a common user experience for screenreader users.
When navigating with NVDA the application part is mentioned (the data visualisations) and the user has to press enter to work with the content. From there the automatic virtual focus is switched off and tab and arrowkeys are working as in a native application.

Jaws: It doesn't announce the application message by default (user have to turn on the announcement in the Jaws settings manually). Tab works as expected but virtual navigation is turned off right away, so it may interfere with the expected interaction of the user. To go short: I think with the role="application" the user experience should be tested by end-users.