While exploring ways to improve the usability and accessibility of WhatsApp Web with NVDA, my colleague Marco Molina Leija and I have devised a method to enhance how users navigate through messages, specifically focusing on replied-to messages. This feature proposal outlines two main approaches: utilizing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and leveraging NVDA's Object Navigation.
Objective
The primary goal is to streamline the process for NVDA users to navigate to and interact with messages that have been replied to within WhatsApp Web.
Proposed Methods
1. Using OCR to Focus on Replied-to Messages
Procedure:
The user focuses on the message that replies to another message.
By pressing NVDA + R, NVDA's OCR feature is activated on the focused message.
The user navigates to the section of the OCR result displaying the replied-to message's author or text.
Upon pressing Enter, there are two potential pathways:
A: Repeatedly pressing Enter navigates directly to the replied-to message.
B: Alternatively, moving to the Object Navigator and pressing Escape followed by tabulation (Tab and Shift + Tab) positions the user on the replied message within the messages list.
2. Leveraging Object Navigation
Procedure:
Position NVDA on the message that is responding to another.
Utilize the Object Navigator to focus on the first object within the message, typically the name of the person being replied to or the content of the replied-to message.
Execute NVDA + Enter or a left click to jump directly to the replied-to message.
A combination of Tab and Shift + Tab will refocus on the list of messages, with the focus now on the replied-to message.
Conclusion
Implementing these methods would significantly enhance the navigability and accessibility of WhatsApp Web for NVDA users, especially in conversations where referencing previous messages is common. We hope to see this feature integrated into the WhatsApp Plus addon in the future.
Thank you for considering this enhancement to improve the experience for NVDA users on WhatsApp for windows.
In advance, I apologize for my bad English.
Feature Description
While exploring ways to improve the usability and accessibility of WhatsApp Web with NVDA, my colleague Marco Molina Leija and I have devised a method to enhance how users navigate through messages, specifically focusing on replied-to messages. This feature proposal outlines two main approaches: utilizing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and leveraging NVDA's Object Navigation.
Objective
The primary goal is to streamline the process for NVDA users to navigate to and interact with messages that have been replied to within WhatsApp Web.
Proposed Methods
1. Using OCR to Focus on Replied-to Messages
NVDA + R, NVDA's OCR feature is activated on the focused message.Enter, there are two potential pathways:Enternavigates directly to the replied-to message.Escapefollowed by tabulation (TabandShift + Tab) positions the user on the replied message within the messages list.2. Leveraging Object Navigation
NVDA + Enteror a left click to jump directly to the replied-to message.TabandShift + Tabwill refocus on the list of messages, with the focus now on the replied-to message.Conclusion
Implementing these methods would significantly enhance the navigability and accessibility of WhatsApp Web for NVDA users, especially in conversations where referencing previous messages is common. We hope to see this feature integrated into the WhatsApp Plus addon in the future.
Thank you for considering this enhancement to improve the experience for NVDA users on WhatsApp for windows. In advance, I apologize for my bad English.