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Annoying volume announcement in Explorer window #10626
Description
Steps to reproduce:
- Place yourself in an explorer window.
- Change your volume using the volume keys.
Actual behavior:
NVDA will say something. In the case of my German NVDA, it's "Lautstärkepegel". I don't know what that equates to in English.
Expected behavior:
NVDA shouldn't say anything
System configuration
NVDA installed/portable/running from source:
Doesn't matter
NVDA version:
2019.3 beta 1
Windows version:
10.0.18363 workstation, 10 being the only windows version where this occurs
Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue:
none
Other information about your system:
Other questions
Does the issue still occur after restarting your PC?
Yes
Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.
It doesn't matter really, but yes, 2019.2.1 also does it.
Activity
josephsl commentedon Dec 14, 2019
hozosch commentedon Dec 14, 2019
Why is it doing it in explorer windows only? Can't we just figure out the right volume manually, for instance when the speech speaks, it's too loud, you change the volume and have the speech go on anyway?
hozosch commentedon Dec 14, 2019
And what about telling the volume percentage instead? That may be something microsoft has to fix. I personally really prefer it to say nothing though. Maybe, for people like me who want to have that silenced, write an addon for it.
josephsl commentedon Dec 14, 2019
AAClause commentedon Dec 15, 2019
I also find this behavior uncomfortable. When I increase/decrease the volume, I usually have an audio stream (speech synthesizer or multimedia content) and I don't want that the screen reader pollutes my listening with such information.
In my opinion, it must be a configurable thing and not imposed.
Fortunately, it's only in explorer windows now and it doesn't bother me too much anymore.
hozosch commentedon Dec 16, 2019
Thank you. That's my opinion put into a much more elegant and clear way than I did there.
josephsl commentedon Dec 16, 2019
Hi,
@LeonarddeR, any thoughts? I'm still really reluctant to revert this completely. There is a reason why we announce UIA notification text - at least we are not doing it from everywhere like Narrator does. Tying this to "report notifications" may provide a solution, but this means people will miss important notifications such as from Store if it is turned off (one workaround then is to create app-specific profiles).
Thanks.
josephsl commentedon Dec 16, 2019
Hi,
Also, as we are going through one of the most sensitive times in NVDA's history, I think we should defer this issue until sometime in 2020. Personally speaking, I want a more suibstantial justification - for me, saying that "I get anoyed by volume notification changes" won't cut it, especially at a time when the highest of highest of priorities is making sure that when 2019.3 stable version shows up, it is stable. I understand why this change is requested and can see potential benefits from the compromise offered, but I think, at this point, we need to think about livelyhoods of thousands of users who will meet NVDA 2019.3.
Thanks.
hozosch commentedon Dec 16, 2019
Andre's post had more in it than just "I get annoyed by volume change notifications", and it's exactly how I feel. I can see though that the highest priority is something different now.
josephsl commentedon Dec 16, 2019
Hi,
At least Andre noted that it is less anoying as it is limited to File Explorer (see #9466). Back when I wrote this for Windows 10 App Essentials add-on (January 2019), volume level notifications were announced from everywhere. It has gone through refinements such as announcing brightness changes, and eventually limiting this announcement to File Explorer and nowhere else.
To give context: volume level announcements were not announced in Version 1809 and earlier because a tooltip was used to convey this information. NVDA didn't announce this because it didn't know how then. In version 1903 and later, UIA notification events are used to announce volume level and brightness level changes, and in upcoming Version 2004, Action Center joins the trend, announcing notification status via this event when it opens. UIA notification events are also employed in redesigned Cortana interface in 2004, and that is why you can hear NVDA announce Cortana's answers (if needed); at the moment it is limited to those using Windows 10 App Essentials add-on. There are other places where the technology used to announce volume level changes when focused on File Explorer is used to convey important information, such as Microsoft Store, Alarms and Clock, EdgeHTML version of Microsoft Edge and what not.
As for priorities, yes, the highest of highest of priorities (at this moment) is NVDA 2019.3 release and stability.
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
hozosch commentedon Dec 16, 2019
So, if we got rid of that volume level announcement, it would affect all UIA notifications? That's of course not what I want!
josephsl commentedon Dec 16, 2019
Hi,
At least letting you turn off UIA notifications by unchecking "report notifications" will get rid of volume level announcements AND other notifications in various apps unless you create an app-specific profile for File Explorer where you don't want notifications announced. Be warned: if there are notifications coming from File Explorer, turning off notifications via app-specific profile for File Explorer WILL NOT allow NVDA to announce all sorts of notifications coming from File Explorer, not just volume level announcements as long as you are focused on File Explorer. If that's what you want, and provided that the community is in favor of this change, we can work something out - not until later in 2020, however.
Thanks.
LeonarddeR commentedon Dec 17, 2019
I'd be unwilling to remove UIA notifications because of them being there for a reason. That they are annoying in some situations is something that Microsoft should fix. Having said that, it seems that JAWS doesn't support them, see jcsteh/osara#198
Having said that, I think that the "Report Notifications" entry in object presentation settings should really disable these notifications if the option is off.
XLTechie commentedon Dec 21, 2019
Adriani90 commentedon Jan 30, 2020
I agree with @XLTechie. Adding a click sound or something like that should be enough for users to know the current volume they have set up. The percentage of the volume is not that important for the most users. If you are doing audio editing you get the percentage information anyway through your audio editing software.
josephsl commentedon Feb 28, 2020
Hi,
Now that 2019.3 has been released...
If there is a need from the community to proceed with requested change, I'm willing to take a look at it or mentor someone. For now, UIA notification announcement will depend on "report notifications" checkbox.
Thanks.
hozosch commentedon Feb 28, 2020
I also agree with @XLTechie about this.But I also noticed when I set my system to dutch for a short while, that it did give the percentage as well. In German, it doesn't do that. Does it do it in English?
Thinking about it, it's something microsoft could change, rather than NVDA. Because some UIA notifications are important indeed. On the other hand, creating a profile is a good option indeed. I can't make up my mind what's the best solution, but I'd still like this to be taken care of in a way anyone is satisfied with.
Adriani90 commentedon May 28, 2020
@josephsl would this not be a good easy hint for speech refactor? Instead of announcing percent and volume just to implement a click sound or something like that?
josephsl commentedon May 28, 2020
hozosch commentedon May 7, 2023
Closing this, since I'm so used to it now, and actually, in Windows 11,the translation is better, so it announces the percentage when you do it, so it got more useful.