Screen reader stops reading paragraph when it reaches anchor tag

Question

I am trying to make a paragraph of text continuously readable by a screen reader (VoiceOver in this case). The text inside of <p> gets read by the screen reader but stops once it reaches the first <a> tag. The user then has to tab through the two links to have the text within the <a> tags read to them.

<p>
  Thank you for visiting this website. If you experience any difficulty in accessing this website please email us at <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>or call us at<a href="tel:[phone]">111-111-1111.</a>
</p>

Is there a more accessible-friendly way of providing the information to the user?

Moorhead

I actually think this is an accessible-friedly way: It gives the user the opportunity to follow the links when the screenreader reaches them and waits before it proceeds. If it would continue reading, the time to react would be very short. But you could rephrase the sentence similar to "If you experience any difficulty in accessing this website please contact us using the mail or telephone links supplied below" without any links inside it, but followed by the links. – Foti

Yeah, there's no reason to thing that such fundamental markup as this should be manipulated for accessibility. The tools already handle it and the users know what it all means. – Bufflehead

Also be aware that screen reader output varies widely by browser. Try Firefox if Chrome is stopping at the anchor. You might get very different results. – Bufflehead

Answer 1

As I already wrote in my comment to the question, I would suggest a solution similar to this if you insist on having no links (and thereby reading interruptions) inside the sentence:

<p>Thank you for visiting this website. If you experience any difficulty in accessing this website please contact us using the mail and phone links supplied below</p>

<p>E-Mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, Phone: <a href="tel:[phone]">111-111-1111.</a></p>

(Still, I would leave it as it is. Screenreader users are used to that)

Foti