Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I've got two use cases here:
-
Where the user is using Windows OneCore with both language packs installed or eSpeak-NG with two supported languages.
In this case, with automatic language switching enabled, when text declared in the second language is encountered, NVDA simply changes and starts reading in that language. This may be either unexpected, or jarring.
-
Where the user is using Windows OneCore or SAPI 5 with only one language pack installed.
In this case, where the second language uses a different alphabet (for instance, the user has only English installed, and the text is in Arabic or Hebrew which uses a completely different alphabet), Windows OneCore simply ignores the characters it does not know in the current language pack and there is no feedback to the user. Announcing the language would at least introduce what is happening.
Describe the solution you'd like
For 1) Where both languages are supported, announcing "French text" or something, indicates the change so it shouldn't be jarring.
For 2) Where the new language is not supported or language pack is not installed, it would at least indicate that there was a language change.
Two additional things we may be able to do in this case:
2b) Ideally, if we could detect that the appropriate language isn't supported or language pack isn't installed, we could report that.
2c) In the same situation, when navigating by character, if we could report any available character descriptions (even in the wrong language), it may be better than nothing.
Describe alternatives you've considered
I'd like to get feedback from existing bilingual users as to what would work best by default for any new options around language reporting.
Additional context
This was initially reported by an organisation concerned that NVDA was not working with the language switching widget on their website as nothing was reported when Arabic was selected. The issue can also be replicated in Microsoft Word by either pasting or translating text into a language for which a OneCore language pack is not installed, such as Arabic or Hebrew on a machine with only English installed.
Testing with Narrator, it DOES report the language change, for instance "Enter Arabic" or "Enter Hebrew".
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I've got two use cases here:
Where the user is using Windows OneCore with both language packs installed or eSpeak-NG with two supported languages.
In this case, with automatic language switching enabled, when text declared in the second language is encountered, NVDA simply changes and starts reading in that language. This may be either unexpected, or jarring.
Where the user is using Windows OneCore or SAPI 5 with only one language pack installed.
In this case, where the second language uses a different alphabet (for instance, the user has only English installed, and the text is in Arabic or Hebrew which uses a completely different alphabet), Windows OneCore simply ignores the characters it does not know in the current language pack and there is no feedback to the user. Announcing the language would at least introduce what is happening.
Describe the solution you'd like
For 1) Where both languages are supported, announcing "French text" or something, indicates the change so it shouldn't be jarring.
For 2) Where the new language is not supported or language pack is not installed, it would at least indicate that there was a language change.
Two additional things we may be able to do in this case:
2b) Ideally, if we could detect that the appropriate language isn't supported or language pack isn't installed, we could report that.
2c) In the same situation, when navigating by character, if we could report any available character descriptions (even in the wrong language), it may be better than nothing.
Describe alternatives you've considered
I'd like to get feedback from existing bilingual users as to what would work best by default for any new options around language reporting.
Additional context
This was initially reported by an organisation concerned that NVDA was not working with the language switching widget on their website as nothing was reported when Arabic was selected. The issue can also be replicated in Microsoft Word by either pasting or translating text into a language for which a OneCore language pack is not installed, such as Arabic or Hebrew on a machine with only English installed.
Testing with Narrator, it DOES report the language change, for instance "Enter Arabic" or "Enter Hebrew".