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Why is screen reading not working on my canvas app?

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Posted on by HamidBee

932 Super User 2024 Season 1

I am new to screen reader. Just a note I'm using Chrome as my browser. I read the following from the Microsoft Documentation:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/canvas-apps/accessible-apps

"To ensure a satisfying experience with the screen reader it is recommended to:

Ensure all input controls have the AccessibleLabel property set.
For images, set AccessibleLabel to an appropriate description.
If a picture is not used as a button or a link (i.e. icon is there just for the decoration) and should not be read by the screen reader, make sure the AccessibleLabel is empty or not set.
If a picture or an icon is used as a button, then set TabIndex to 0 and AccessibleLabel to the link description."

I thought if I give a text to the AccessibleLabel property of a button for example, NVDA would read the text when the App is played. Here is a screenshot of what I did:

But when I play the app and click the home button, I can't hear any screen reading from the browser. Can somebody please tell me what I'm doing wrong?.

Thanks in advance.

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Building Power Apps

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SB15 6 on at

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Did you figure this out? Microsoft Canvas and Power Apps seem to be introducing many accessibility issues for screen reader users.

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HamidBee 932 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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Hi @SB15. I actually haven't. I really wasn't sure what else to try. @timl I'd kindly like to ask if you can help on this.

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timl 36,383 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @HamidBee

The problem is that screen readers behave differently and don't all work constantly in the way we expect.

To illustrate, let's add an icon and set the AccessibleLabel text to "Click here to add". Through the developer tools in the browser, we see that Power Apps sets the aria-label attribute as expected.

There's an issue where NVDA doesn't parse the aria-label text in some circumstances, so that's the reason why the Accessibility Label text for the icon produces no sound in NVDA.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41127854/nvda-not-reading-aria-label-in-span-what-is-the-alternative

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SB15 6 on at

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Timl A basic rule for accessibility is that

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SB15 6 on at

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Timl,remember that a basic rule of accessibility, is to use standard html elements as the primary design aproach.The 1st rule of aria, is “don’t use aria” this of course is a fun way of reminding us that a RIA is a last resort only…
I don’t know what is going on with Microsoft but everybody seems to be drinking the same Kool-Aid in other words going rogue and a RI a happy…
Stick with the basics and the screen readers will work.
Standards are in place because there is no standard user.

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