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NVDA not reading text when using VML backgrounds in Outlook
I've been trying to make our emails more accessible but NVDA seems to have trouble reading text when there's a background image in Outlook. Could it be because of the VML or something else? NVDA can read it when I view in browser, but I feel like I shouldn't rely on that being used. I'm fairly new to this so any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!
<table role="presentation" class="container_module" id="heroWCTA" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="100%" style="margin:0; vertical-align:top;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center" valign="top" width="100%" background="https://via.placeholder.com/660x220" style=" background-image:url(https://via.placeholder.com/660x220); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-size:cover; background-position: center center; margin: 0;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<v:rect xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:640px; height:210px;">
<v:fill type="frame" src="https://via.placeholder.com/660x220" />
<v:textbox inset="10,10,10,10" v-text-anchor="top">
<![endif]-->
<table role="presentation" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="vertical-align:top;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="padding_top_60 padding_right_110 padding_bottom_12 padding_left_17 text_18_18" width="100%" valign="top" align="left" style="color:#ffffff; vertical-align:top; padding: 30px 15px 15px 32px; margin:0; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:22px; line-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust:none;">
<div id="heroText">
<h2 class="text_18_18" style="margin:0; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:22px; line-height: 22px; color:#ffffff; margin:0;"><b>Lorem ipsum<br> dolor sit amet,<br> coctetuer adipiscing<br> elit</b></h2>
</div> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="padding_bottom_60" width="100%" align="left" style="padding-bottom: 25px; margin: 0;">
<table role="presentation" border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="vertical-align:top; margin: 0; padding: 0;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="content_17" width="32" align="left" style="padding: 0; margin: 0;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 10px; width: 32px;"> </td>
<td align="left" style="padding: 0; margin: 0;">
<table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="vertical-align:top; margin: 0; padding: 0;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="height_22" height="28" width="100%" align="center" border="2" valign="middle" style=" vertical-align:middle; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#ffffff; font-size:12px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; -moz-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; border: 2px solid #00aeef; background-color:#00aeef;">
<!--[if mso]>
<table>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #00aeef; padding: 7px 10px; text-align: center;"><![endif]--><a class="height_22" role="button" href=
"http://go.na.panasonic.com/SU0K1G00F0005J01H00G00O" style="
text-decoration:none; color:#ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:12px; line-height: 12px; vertical-align:middle; height:28px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; -moz-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; padding:7px 10px; "
><b>Learn More</b></a><br>
<!--[if mso]></td>
</tr>
</table>
<![endif]--></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table> </td>
<td class="content_17" width="32" align="right" style="padding: 0; margin: 0;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 10px; width: 32px;"> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
VML is rendered as an image in Outlook, meaning all the content becomes part of the image. This causes issues for accessibility.
The best option is to avoid putting anything more than one line of content inside VML.
If you are using content inside VML it's always best to set an
altto be sure of what it read to the user.Without the alt it will be read as Rect. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, coctetuer adipiscing elit
With the alt it will be read as Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, coctetuer adipiscing elit
As a side note, I can see you have
role="button"on a link. This makes the link unusable for people using screen readers. When talking about design we often refer to styled links as buttons but semantically they are still links<a></a>and not buttons<button></button>. When addingrole="button"the screen reader will be passing message of a button action rather than a link action meaning it doesn't get clicked.Thank you so much! I couldn't find an answer from anywhere else and had just about given up hope of making this more accessible. Thank you for the advice on the button as well. It's much appreciated.