Affected versions

• 93.0b2
• 94.0a1

Affected platforms

• macOS 11.5

Preconditions

• Have Voiceover active

Steps to reproduce

1. Open the .dmg.
2. Drag and click on the Firefox icon from the dock or launch it from the disk image

Expected result

• The prompt to install or to not install Firefox is read by Voiceover

Actual result

• The prompt is not detected by Voiceover

Regression range

• Not a regression, this was added by bug 516362.

Additional notes

• The issue can be seen in the following attachment

ni'ing me so I remember to have a look at this tomorrow :)

Looks like it is possible to call NSAlert's runModal without an event loop. This prevents accessibility APIs from querying the UI. I'll try to come up with something.

This is needed for platform accessibility support.

Correction: there is an event loop, or an embedded one if NSAlert is called when one is already running. I think the issue has to do with some other magic that happens when an NSApplication is started.

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/04499eda6af2

The patch landed in nightly and beta is affected.
:eeejay, is this bug important enough to require an uplift?
If not please set status_beta to wontfix.

For more information, please visit auto_nag documentation.

This will need an uplift. But first, would like the reporter to confirm fix and check that workflow after alert (use or install Firefox) works as expected as well.

Verified that voiceover is reading the messages in the prompt and the buttons as well when selected with tab on Firefox 94.0a1 (2021-09-13)

Comment on attachment 9240654 [details]
Bug 1729879 - Start NSApp in AskUserIfWeShouldInstall alert. r?jwatt!

Beta/Release Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: VoiceOver users will not know of the dialog and nothing will be spoken to them when Firefox is first launched.
• Is this code covered by automated tests?: No
• Has the fix been verified in Nightly?: Yes
• Needs manual test from QE?: Yes
• If yes, steps to reproduce: 1. Launch Firefox from dmg when no previous version was installed.

2. Assure alert is read and interactive with VoiceOver.
3. Press "Don't Install"
4. Assure Firefox launches and works with VoiceOver

• List of other uplifts needed: None
• Risk to taking this patch: Medium
• Why is the change risky/not risky? (and alternatives if risky): This relies on some AppKit quirks I don't fully understand, so I am marking the risk as "medium".
• String changes made/needed:

Comment on attachment 9240654 [details]
Bug 1729879 - Start NSApp in AskUserIfWeShouldInstall alert. r?jwatt!

This is medium risk but was verifed on nightly and baked 5 days on nightly with no new regression reported, let's take it in 93 beta 6, thanks.

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/6042d2250158

This has been fixed on 93.0b6 as well. Thank you!