Bug 261249 – AX: iOS VoiceOver reads a wrong 'Checkbox' role information when focusing on a radio button.

• Component: Accessibility
• Status: RESOLVED FIXED

[Ungjin Park]

= Steps for reproducing =
1. Please turn on VoiceOver and then Open the next link: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input/radio 
2. Move VoiceOver Focus to any radio button in the "Try It" Section.
3. Listen carefully to which element state and role information VoiceOver says.

= current behavior =
VoiceOver reads "Huey, Checkbox, Radio Button, Checked".

= expected behavior =
VoiceOVer must not read an additional wrong role 'Checkbox' when focusing a radio button.

Radio buttons are a checkable element like checkboxes. but, a radio button is not exactly the same as a checkbox. these just shared the same or similar concepts. When a screen reader user encounters a checkbox, they expect that they can select multiple. On the other hand, when they meet radio buttons, they expect that they can select only one of two or more items. It makes users confused.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/115088197>

[Joe Watkins]

Thank you for filing this bug. I can confirm that I've experienced this as well.

[Joe Watkins]

Created attachment 469175 [details]
Example of VoiceOver announcing Radio as Checkbox Radio. v17

Example of VoiceOver announcing Radio as Checkbox Radio. v17

https://cdpn.io/pen/debug/ZEPEQvL

[Andrew Scheuermann]

I agree with Ungjin's original "expected behavior" and thank him for filing this bug. This is the feedback we received from our Quality Engineering PM, who is a full-time screen reader user...

"To me, a RADIO BUTTON and a CHECKBOX are two very unique HTML elements and all screen readers have specific protocols for how they are announced. Therefore, calling a control both a RADIO BUTTON and A CHECKBOX is confusing. When I hear RADIO BUTTON, I think of a "multiple choice" where a user picks only one from at least two choices. When I hear CHECKBOX, I think of a toggle where multiple boxes can be checked."

[sejeong]

Hi, I'm experiencing the same issue. Do you have any updates on this issue?

[Tyler Wilcock]

A non-WebKit fix has been made to address this, I'll leave a comment here after it has shipped. Thanks for reporting!

[Tyler Wilcock]

*** Bug 273053 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[Tyler Wilcock]

Hello, just following up, this fix shipped with the recently released iOS 17.6.