Dev test: Balloons and Static Electricity

[jessegreenberg]

@emily-phet @terracoda @ariel-phet @phet-steele, Balloons and Static Electricity 1.4.0-dev.21 is ready for dev testing. This version includes accessibility features that are compatible with a screen reader.

Before beginning, familiarize yourself with how a screen reader works. Here is a page with information about PhET's supported screen readers and documentation about how to use them:
Screen reader intro

Link to sim

The above sim has labels and/or descriptions. They can be "seen" here:
Link to a11y view

This view should assist in seeing what is available to a screen reader user. While testing, please make sure that all descriptions and alerts accurately describe the state of the simulation. All content in the a11y-view should be readable with a screen reader when one is active.

PhET supports the following platforms for accessibility so please test these:

• JAWS with latest Windows, latest Firefox
• NVDA with latest Windows, latest Firefox
• VoiceOver with latest macOS, latest Safari

In addition to the above, please also do some normal dev testing of this sim without a screen reader.

If any new issues are found, please note them in https://github.com/phetsims/balloons-and-static-electricity/issues and reference this issue.

Critical screen reader information

• JAWS might complain about Firefox Quantum. If that is the case, please test with https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/
• The screen reader must be turned on and reading before the browser is open for it to work. See Sometimes JAWS doesn't work in FF a11y-research#90
• JAWS might not automatically switch to forms mode for some controls (like sliders and radio buttons). In this case, pressing "enter" should switch to forms mode. For example, see aria-orientation attribute prevents JAWS from entering forms mode automatically  resistance-in-a-wire#138
• The screen reader might focus the last UI component that had focus on sim load, typically on refresh. This is a "feature". For example, see Keyboard help button highlighted upon loading sim resistance-in-a-wire#139

@ariel-phet please assign and prioritize

[jessegreenberg]

JAWS might not automatically switch to forms mode for some controls (like sliders and radio buttons). In this case, pressing "enter" should switch to forms mode.

@phet-steele mentioned that there is not enough context to understand this. I will add information about this to the "Screen Reader Intro".

[phet-steele]

@jessegreenberg it might be useful to link the github issues that led to us writing the "critical information". So, what issue caused us to realize the JAWS may not switch to forms mode, etc.?

[jessegreenberg]

Good idea @phet-steele, I added examples to the screen reader quirks in the issue and a11y test templates.

[ariel-phet]

Current top testing priority

[ghost]

QA is done.

[jessegreenberg]

Excellent, thanks for the hard work @lmulhall-phet and team, closing this issue.