Q:

Making text messages accessible to screen reader

I am building a chat bot and currently working on some accessibility features. I am wondering what is the best way to allow users to read through old messages. In an earlier build I solved this by making the message logs tab-able, but I don't think this is an appropriate solution (as far as I know only buttons/links should be tab-able). Is there a preferred way of doing this, perhaps with hot keys? For reference I am using Voice Over to test accessibility.

A:

Generally screenreader users rely on the arrow keys (or swiping, on a touch device) to reach text content which isn't interactive. You're correct that only links and form elements should be tabbable. In this case, assuming your old messages appear as text, I don't think you will need to take any specific action to make them accessible. Test it without any additional markup to confirm this. 

