JAWS does not announce keyword “Alert” for role="alert" container (Chrome, JAWS 2025) #924
Description
When using an ARIA live region with role="alert", JAWS does not announce the keyword “Alert” before the message text.
Historically, JAWS announced “Alert”, but in JAWS 2025 this behavior appears missing entirely, for both static and dynamically injected. This affects clarity for users who rely on auditory cues to distinguish urgent messages.
Actual Behavior
JAWS 2025 announces only the message text, omitting the keyword “Alert.”
Expected Behavior
JAWS should announce “Alert” followed by the message text when encountering role="alert", consistent with prior versions and user expectations.
Test Environment
JAWS: 2025.2506.170
Browser: Chrome 142.0.7444.163
JAWS previously announced “Alert” in older versions (e.g., JAWS 2024,2022,2020).
Steps to Reproduce
- Create a simple html page with this code in it
div id="alert" role="alert"></div>. - Reload your chrome browser.
- Listen to JAWS announcement.
Investigate whether JAWS 2025 intentionally removed this prefix or if it’s a regression.