AX: VoiceOver speech gets stuck "buzzing" on ^* while reading all

• Component: Accessibility
• Status: RESOLVED MOVED

[Weston Thayer]

When VoiceOver on macOS is reading the page (via VO+A), if it encounters <sup>*</sup>, it's speech synthesizer will emit a buzzing sound that will not stop until VoiceOver is turned off.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

1. Open https://jsbin.com/mujukeqawe/edit?html,css,output in Safari on macOS
2. Turn VoiceOver on
3. Place focus on the button in the output pane
4. Use VO+A to start reading from there

ACTUAL: After reading the <button>'s contents, VoiceOver starts emitting a non-stop buzzing sound. The only way to get it to stop is to turn VoiceOver off.
EXPECTED: VoiceOver should read "Warning, this will buzz star"


HARDWARE

OS: macOS 10.14.6
Browser: Safari 12.1.2

ADDITIONAL BUILDS & PLATFORMS

Does not occur on iOS 12.3.1 Safari or with macOS Chrome 75.0.3770.142 (Official Build) (64-bit)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

- Changing <sup> to <span> fixes the issue
- This only happens when reading the document with VO+A. If I move the cursor to it manually, it reads correctly
- <kbd>, <sub>, and <samp> also cause the issue

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/53551102>

[Eric Liang]

(In reply to Weston Thayer from comment #0)
> When VoiceOver on macOS is reading the page (via VO+A), if it encounters
> <sup>*</sup>, it's speech synthesizer will emit a buzzing sound that will
> not stop until VoiceOver is turned off.
> 
> STEPS TO REPRODUCE
> 
> 1. Open https://jsbin.com/mujukeqawe/edit?html,css,output in Safari on macOS
> 2. Turn VoiceOver on
> 3. Place focus on the button in the output pane
> 4. Use VO+A to start reading from there
> 
> ACTUAL: After reading the <button>'s contents, VoiceOver starts emitting a
> non-stop buzzing sound. The only way to get it to stop is to turn VoiceOver
> off.
> EXPECTED: VoiceOver should read "Warning, this will buzz star"
> 
> 
> HARDWARE
> 
> OS: macOS 10.14.6
> Browser: Safari 12.1.2
> 
> ADDITIONAL BUILDS & PLATFORMS
> 
> Does not occur on iOS 12.3.1 Safari or with macOS Chrome 75.0.3770.142
> (Official Build) (64-bit)
> 
> ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
> 
> - Changing <sup> to <span> fixes the issue
> - This only happens when reading the document with VO+A. If I move the
> cursor to it manually, it reads correctly
> - <kbd>, <sub>, and <samp> also cause the issue

Do you have some VoiceOver settings you can attach? I can't reproduce on my machine. Thanks!

[Weston Thayer]

Created attachment 375083 [details]
My VoiceOver settings

[Weston Thayer]

(In reply to Eric Liang from comment #2)
> (In reply to Weston Thayer from comment #0)
> > When VoiceOver on macOS is reading the page (via VO+A), if it encounters
> > <sup>*</sup>, it's speech synthesizer will emit a buzzing sound that will
> > not stop until VoiceOver is turned off.
> > 
> > STEPS TO REPRODUCE
> > 
> > 1. Open https://jsbin.com/mujukeqawe/edit?html,css,output in Safari on macOS
> > 2. Turn VoiceOver on
> > 3. Place focus on the button in the output pane
> > 4. Use VO+A to start reading from there
> > 
> > ACTUAL: After reading the <button>'s contents, VoiceOver starts emitting a
> > non-stop buzzing sound. The only way to get it to stop is to turn VoiceOver
> > off.
> > EXPECTED: VoiceOver should read "Warning, this will buzz star"
> > 
> > 
> > HARDWARE
> > 
> > OS: macOS 10.14.6
> > Browser: Safari 12.1.2
> > 
> > ADDITIONAL BUILDS & PLATFORMS
> > 
> > Does not occur on iOS 12.3.1 Safari or with macOS Chrome 75.0.3770.142
> > (Official Build) (64-bit)
> > 
> > ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
> > 
> > - Changing <sup> to <span> fixes the issue
> > - This only happens when reading the document with VO+A. If I move the
> > cursor to it manually, it reads correctly
> > - <kbd>, <sub>, and <samp> also cause the issue
> 
> Do you have some VoiceOver settings you can attach? I can't reproduce on my
> machine. Thanks!

Sure, please see the new attachment.

[Brent Fulgham]

The fix for this issue was needed outside the WebKit project, therefore this is being resolved as 'Moved'.

This should now be fixed in shipping software.

[Weston Thayer]

Confirmed fix in macOS 12.1 and Safari 15.2.