Audio player controls not accessible

The basic WordPress audio player does include volume and time slider controls, but unfortunately, they are not fully accessible with screen readers like NVDA. This is because the default media player relies on HTML5 elements that may not provide proper ARIA roles or keyboard navigability for screen reader users.

Currently, NVDA can read the elapsed and total time of the track but does not recognize the slider, making it impossible to adjust playback position or volume. To improve accessibility, consider the following solutions:

Use an Accessible Audio Player Plugin – There are WordPress plugins like “MediaElement.js” or “Accessible Audio Player” that provide better accessibility support with proper ARIA labels and keyboard navigation.

Custom ARIA Enhancements – Developers can add ARIA attributes to the default player to improve its accessibility, ensuring sliders are focusable and navigable using keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Control – If modifying the player is not an option, NVDA users can use general media playback keyboard shortcuts (such as volume controls on the keyboard) to adjust the audio indirectly.

Since this is a limitation of the default WordPress audio player, raising the issue with WordPress developers or using a third-party accessible media player could be the best way forward.

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To file a feature request, please follow https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket and choose “Feature request” as the report Type. For more see https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-make-new-feature-suggestions-for-wordpress-beginners-guide-to-using-trac/