Screen reader section should mention interaction modes #50
Description
Something that has proved especially significant for our accessibility work is understanding screen reader modes. In particular, there is a rule of thumb I wish had been more clear when I started: It's easy to put 'forms mode' (aka 'focus mode') content inside 'document mode' (aka 'browse mode') content, but often impossible to get a compliant result if you do it the other way round. This has impact for various 'teams' but it is the front end developers that discover the issue first.
The interaction mode is dictated by the semantic roles of the content. If you get the roles wrong, the screen reader will behave in a very unpredictable way.
In 'document/browse mode' the screen reader usually 'steals' the keyboard input. This can easily come as a big surprise to those designing a GUI for keyboard operation unless they test early with a screen reader.
There is a good introduction to the topic here. Perhaps a link to this article is in order?
https://tink.uk/understanding-screen-reader-interaction-modes/