[Assistive tech and device support] Page functionality isn't keyboard accessible. (11.05.1)

General Information

VFS team name

Virtual Agent

VFS product name

Chatbot

VFS feature name

Prescription

Point of Contact/Reviewers

Ryan Smith - @rsmithadhoc - Accessibility

*For more information on how to interpret this ticket, please refer to the Anatomy of a Staging Review issue ticket guidance on Platform Website.

Platform Issue

Page functionality isn't keyboard accessible.

Issue Details

Unable to navigate the chatbot via keyboard using Edge + NVDA screen reader.

When tabbing, it opens keyboard controls pop-up and starts reading. Cannot close keyboard controls with the button.
"Chat history, press arrow keys to navigate" - pressing arrow keys does not navigate.
Cannot press enter to focus a link while the screen reader is active.

Link, screenshot or steps to recreate

VA.gov Experience Standard

Category Number 11, Issue Number 05

Other References

WCAG SC 2.1.1_A

Platform Recommendation

This may be a result of the chatbot product being used, so I am not sure how much can be done. Ideally, keyboard interactions should work while a screen reader such as NVDA is active.

VFS Guidance

Close the ticket when the issue has been resolved or validated by your Product Owner
If your team has additional questions or needs Platform help validating the issue, please comment on the ticket
Some feedback provided may be out of scope for your iteration of the product, however, Platform's OCTO leadership has stated that all identified issues need to be documented and it is still your responsibility to resolve the issue.
If you do not believe that this Staging Review issue ticket is the responsibility of your team, comment below providing an explanation and who you believe is responsible. Please tag the Point of Contact/Reviewers. Governance team will research and will follow up.

department-of-veterans-affairs / va.gov-team