Questions about Accessibility for Screen Reader Users?
Hello,
I am currently in the process of evaluating which password manager will work best for my needs. I am blind, and a screen reader user. I primarily use a PC, but also own a Mac, and iPhone, and dip my toes into the Android world from time to time; so ideally, my password manager of choice will be screen reader accessible across all platforms. 1Password accessibility seems quite good on the Mac; but my luck in Windows hasn’t been as good thus far. One of my issues seems to be with the Firefox browser extension. The typical way to activate an extension is by mousing to, and then clicking its toolbar icon. However, some extensions will also create a submenu under the tools menu that replicates all the functionality you get from clicking the icon. I do not use a mouse, and I don’t see a 1Password submenu anywhere, so I’m at a loss as to whether there is any way for me to access this extensions functionality. The other, and perhaps even bigger issue is that when I initially log into a site, my screen reader isn’t detecting any prompt from 1Password asking whether I want to save that site’s login info. I’m not certain whether the prompt to save is just not appearing for some reason; or if it is appearing, but is utterly undetectable to my screen reader. On the Mac side, this prompt works great! It pops up a dialog that grabs focus and is impossible to miss; But I’m currently at a loss as to how to save any credentials on the Windows side. Maybe I’m missing some tips or tricks that could make things easier. If so, I look forward to learning them but if not, then I hope you will consider adding enhancements to a11y to the roadmap for the Windows product.
1Password Version: 6.0.186d
Extension Version: 4.5.9
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Comments
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@CallMeAl Thanks for writing in.
We're happy about your interest in 1Password and your accessibility feedback.
First up: On a U.S. keyboard, you can use Ctrl+\ in any browser that has the 1Password browser extension installed to invoke the extension window and then continue to navigate using the keyboard. Using Ctrl+Alt+\ will invoke the extension window even when you're not in a browser, allowing you to search for the entry you need, and browsing to it.
Accessibility is very important to us and we've been making many improvements to the application in recent months. It's far from perfect, though, and we know it. Two days ago we were contacted by another blind user that NVDA compatibility has gotten worse a few beta releases ago and we still need to check out what is going on.
Which screenreader are you using? We want to ensure maximum compatibility with all major products and try to optimise 1Password for Windows for them.
Cheers,
Alex
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Hi Alex,
Thanks for the response! I primarily use Jaws for Windows, but alternate between that and NVDA.
Part of my problem may be that I’m confused as to whether or not I should even be using the extension. I saw a note, ( I think somewhere on the forum) stating that The extension was currently only for use with 1Password 4, and not compatible with version 6. However, under settings, version 6 does offer the option to install an extension, but takes you to the download for the version 4 extension. If I use 1Password 6 with the extension and press CTRL+\, Jaws acts as if I have landed on the 1Password search box instead of the extension’s submenu. Out of curiosity, I temporarily downgraded to using 1Password 4; and then when I pressed CTRL+\ I was able to navigate the extension’s menu as expected.
I commend your dedication to accessibility, and fully realize that things can and do break during beta cycles. If it will be of assistance, I am happy to continue to offer accessibility related feedback as new versions are released.
Al0 -
Hello @CallMeAl,
Thanks for getting back to us.
The 1Password browser extension works with 1Password 6 and has for a few months now. The functionality is still being worked on and improved to iron out certain user experience issues but we're well on our way to having it behave just as you'd expect it to.
The extension works differently for version 4 and 6. The explanation for this is rather simple. All the extension button does is call up a background process which provides the user interface. Depending on which version of 1Password for Windows you're using, the user interface will look different. In 1Password 6, the default focus upon calling up the extension user interface, is the search box, something the version 4 extension didn't have. For context: the behaviour in version 6 is the default behaviour on the Mac as well and the new default for 1Password for Windows.
I did a test run navigating 1Password 6 with the keyboard and relying on the Windows Narrator and the best way, in my opinion to get where you need to go right now, is to open your default browser, press Ctrl+Alt+\ (on a U.S. style keyboard), search for the login item you need, press arrow down to go through the list of items, and select the right one by pressing Enter.
This should open it in the browser, fill the login credentials, and submit the login form.
Some background information: when you invoke the 1Password browser extension in the web browser right now, it will only show you a matching result when you're on a website that you have an item saved for. Searching in this mode will not show you any results. That's why I recommended the workflow above.
We would truly appreciate any kind of feedback on the state of accessibility in 1Password 6 that you can give. We are working with many amazingly skilled visually impaired individuals already and are always thankful for more input.
Cheers,
Alex
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Thanks for the clarification! What about adding login items? If I fill out a login form for the first time in the normal way, I assumed 1Password would either display a notification or pop up a dialog asking me whether or not I wanted to save the credentials? If this is indeed happening, I am not seeing that notification. What is the current suggested workflow for adding credentials?
Al0 -
Adding login items has to be done manually in the main application at the moment.
The auto-save feature isn't available in the app, yet. It's at the very top of our todo list, though.0
