Hello,
At the end of this e-mail, You’ll find a google drive link to a screen recording to demonstrate these issues, please watch the video. There are numerous issues introduced with the macOS 15.7 update regarding VoiceOver web navigation. On some websites, VoiceOver skips blocks of text when reading forward. If we read backward with VO + Left Arrow, the skipped text becomes accessible. I tested the same website on macOS 15.6.1, where VoiceOver worked perfectly fine. I also tested with Google Chrome, which worked without issues, proving this problem is not caused by website developers but rather by Apple or WebKit.
I would have attached the website/resources I used, but they are only available through my college portal. Still, the issue is clear. Starting with 15.7, VoiceOver also doesn’t work reliably with fast web navigation. Sometimes when a website loads, VoiceOver reports the web content as empty, even though the page is visible. When I navigate with keyboard focus using Tab/Shift+Tab, I can confirm the website is present. The only workaround is reloading the page, but this isn’t practical in situations such as filling out forms or uploading files.
Additionally, starting with 15.7, when auto-filling passwords via iCloud Keychain in Safari, VoiceOver plays the secure-character sound for every character entered. This is very distracting and, with long passwords, slows down the process significantly.
Please address these issues with web navigation. VoiceOver remains very reliable in almost every other aspect of macOS, but web navigation remains buggy.
google Drive link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wLzPUDI6-IneUd_uzt74W1IVynGBKLHx/view?usp=sharing
Comments
Nobody experiencing these annoyances?
I wonder if this is better or worse in Tahoe?
Re: Tahoe
From reading the Tahoe thread it sounds like these are pro problems that were introduced in versions of Safari that have been pushed to both Sequoia and Tahoe. So I suspect it won't make much difference moving to Tahoe - although I guess there's less of a chance of them being fixed on Sequoia.
I am still on Sequoia 15.6.1 and posts like this and the Tahoe thread have made me pretty unwilling to upgrade.
I can also confirm
I am experiencing similar issues. Also for me running 15.7 i have to turn arrow key quick nav off and on repeatedly to move between elements.
@ nikos daley
Quick Nav is so broken that I don’t think it’s usable. As a workaround, I assigned custom commands for headings, links, buttons, and other elements I use frequently—for example, Option-H and Option-Shift-H for heading navigation. So I don’t use Quick Nav anymore. Using it with arrow keys was never something I needed to do, but these issues just kill productivity.
It’s the same on Tahoe, if not worse.
To be honest, what’s happening with navigation in Safari and VoiceOver is beyond comprehension. I initially thought this issue affected only the newest version of macOS 26, but it turns out it’s most likely caused by an update to Safari itself.
Honestly, I now much prefer using Google Chrome over Safari. Filling out forms in Safari on the Mac is practically impossible now — and even if it works, it takes a huge amount of effort. It has nothing to do with usability or accessibility anymore.
Aside from Safari and the VoiceOver navigation issues, I don’t recommend updating to Tahoe at all. What’s happening with this system is truly unbelievable — sound problems, applications opening but not appearing visually when switching between windows, and so on. I’ve never seen anything like this on a Mac before.
Nothing seems to fix the issue, not even the shortcuts VO + F2 + F2 or VO + F1 + F1. The only way to deal with it is to force quit the application and reopen it.
No Issues Here Yet
I am on Mac OS 15.6.1 and having no issues. I'm using my NLS eReader as well, and have not experienced any of the above issues with that either. I guess I might try upgrading to Tahoe when it becomes available on my end and see what happens. Or perhaps Tahoe is already available but tbh I haven't checked.
Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage Checkbox
I recall a similar issue that I encountered sometime ago and was resolved. To resolve it, I removed all Safari extensions and changed the checkbox condition in the Advanced section of Safari settings to “Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage.”
Having these problems as well
It’s absolutely a problem with Safari 26.0, the version that’s included with both sequoia 15.7 and Tahoe.
Unfortunately, the current 26.1 beta doesn’t seem to improve it yet and we are already on Beta 2.
Re: Tahoe
My heart really sinks after reading posts like the above (plus following along on the Tahoe thread). When Sonoma came out, it was a total disaster - it just broke so many different things for me. Sequoia on the other hand was much more stable. I had been hoping that Sonoma was a bit of an anomaly but it sounds like Tahoe is a repeat. I had really hoped that maybe Apple had learned their lessons but I guess that was just naive optimism.
(But thank goodness for people on Applevis pointing this out so I can hold off upgrading)