WhatsApp Update

Sorry I don't use any of Meta's applications or services, save for the smart glasses and Meta AI app. Did they break accessibility, I do know there are a handful of NVDA add-ons for the Windows application.

It is now older versions of WhatsApp, it has some sort of web page style.

So... it is accessible then? 😕

WhatsApp has been testing this change in their beta version for quite some time now—around three to six months, if memory serves.
Previously, we had a fully native desktop app, and NVDA add-ons, along with all related features, worked beautifully. With the new version, however, the app is no longer native. Instead, selecting the WhatsApp icon in the Start menu launches a window that essentially loads the WhatsApp Web interface, very similar to what you’d see on web.whatsapp.com. As a result, NVDA add-ons and the useful keyboard shortcuts they provided are no longer supported.
I strongly encourage everyone to submit feedback through Meta’s official feedback channels. They do have a dedicated accessibility team, and they seem to be reasonably active in addressing ongoing issues.

Thank you for the clarification. That makes a lot more sense now.

Install WhatsApp beta from Microsoft Store and there will be no accessibility issues.

https://aryaniraula.com.np/whatsapp-windows-accessibility/

Came here with issues and found the solution. Thanks so much for this!

Once again, I received a beta update, reverting back to WebView2. This is a disaster.

I mean, it kind of has… but most people use either Messenger, RCS, SMS, or iMessage. This mainly comes down to US carriers offering unlimited text messaging, unlike in many other parts of the world. I’m sure someone here will expand on that, though.

Australia also has unlimited texts, but if you're going to use cross-platform messaging, then you're going to use one of these many messaging apps available. In Australia, we don't care about the green bubble, blue bubble crap. The only people in my family that defaults to sending a text message is my older brother, and he's a Gen X.

I use WhatsApp because a majority of people use it. Sure, I could use iMessage, but I don't know who in my family uses iPhone or Android. So, in my case, it's just easier to use WhatsApp. Most people in my family either use WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. And Facebook Messenger is easy to use, easy-ish, if you ignore the focus issues. But most people, I think, in my contacts, do have WhatsApp. So, I default to WhatsApp. As for the Windows side, I'm not on any betas. I'm using the version that you get from the Windows Store, and so far, it works perfectly fine.

My reasoning for using iMessage, is pretty much the same reason you use WhatsApp. Everyone I know, that is to say everyone I know who uses some form of Messaging Service, uses iMessage or RCS. Since iMessage and RCS are so interconnected these days, for lack of a better definition, all of my android buddies have no problems communicating with me While I'm using iMessage, and vice versa. Being able to send multimedia back-and-forth without issue, getting those little messages such as, "buddy is typing…", Or, "message delivered/received/read", is pretty much all any of us really care about, at least over here. Do understand that I am not downplaying WhatsApp in anyway, shape, or form. Simply stating that here in the US, most of us folks are using iMessage or RCS, simply because it's there. And as Trenton Matthew stated above, we have unlimited talking and texting over here. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Whatsapp is now moving to a fully web-view based app, including Beta and the normal release version.
If you are seeing a desktop native app, that's almost certainly by chance, and even that is bound to go away when they flip some switch at server side or Microsoft Store decides to update everything.
The web-view app is horrible in terms of accessibility. And, I've seen even sighted folks complaining about it as the web-view version doesn't scale up properly when being resized. Plus it consumes more RAM with no improvements to performance.
Below links might help people understand.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/1ouni27/meta_just_killed_native_whatsapp_on_windows_11/
https://www.theverge.com/news/710509/whatsapp-windows-app-web-wrapper-changes

well, I think It get back to the web view version..
it is difficult to change the notification sounds...

If this was a joke, it was not funny, I strongly encourage everyone to submit feedback through Meta’s official feedback channels. They do have a dedicated accessibility team, and they seem to be reasonably active in addressing ongoing issues.

I support the encourage part of the statement, just posted a Forum topic today on how to escalate: https://applevis.com/forum/ios-ipados/major-accessibility-regression-unable-copy-meta-ai-responses-whatsapp-ios

well,
I can not listen the notification sounds in the setting page when browsing the notification sound 1 to 10

There is a whatsapp addon for nvda.

I am not using any add ons for Whatsapp with NVDA. I have disabled the Browse mode when page loads in NVDA settings and am on Focus mode this is the only setting that will change everything for you as a user experience improvement. I am not saying the application is accessible, I am saying you can use it with NVDA like you used to with Focus mode. Here from memory is one Keyboard shortcut that helps CNTRL + 2 should take you to the list of chats and if you are in Focus mode, using your down arrow keys will take you through the list of messages. I use the find and filter options a lot. I think it is CNTRL + F OR E to go to the find search edit box type in the contact name, use the down arrow to see the list of results. However, if you have any filters applied you might not get the group or contact you are searching for; the filters are tabs and you need to be on the ALL tab to get results, pressing enter on any of the tabs applies the filter. Hope this helps

I haven't found any showstopper with the ew whatsapp on windows. IMO it's even better than the previous app with nvda, as now if I want to read a message I can just go to brows mode and read it like any web document. Before this would have only been possible with jaws. Message context menu? Right arrow on that message, context menu popup button or something like that, press, and with up down arrow you have all your actions. Navigation between message pane and chat lists and others? Standard tab and shift tab.
This is not different than discord, it's less verbose than teams. The only downside is electron for the ram but this is beyond the blind community and everyone can collectively moan and be productive xd. I don't like how blind people, at least those with the skills, still find modern web terifying. I can understand that for macos users but this is >50% voiceover fault.
I am not excusing meta lazyness here and there are ton of arguments to prove that yes modern software is shipped fast improved later, if ever. Now windows update breaks more than it patches. But come on. I have mnever use any whatsapp addon. And I do chats, video calls, group chats too.
Discord on windows is still better than whatsapp yes. But it's completely usable and almost similar to the website version. I really don't get it.
Yes, if they ever do the same to the mac then I'll be angry because this is arguably better there with full support of voiceover actions, the same as ios.
And NVDA is much better with modern dynamic web apps than most other screen readers on the market, as somebody who's used or use voiceover on mac, chromevox on chromeos (flex), orca on linux, nvda, jaws and even narrator on windows.

I was using Gmail’s Standard view back when most screen reader users wouldn’t even consider touching it. Today, I work daily with far more complex enterprise applications as part of my role.
WhatsApp’s web app is decisively worse than its older native counterpart. It loads slowly, requires excessive tabbing, and even moderately complex actions—like forwarding messages or selecting multiple recipients—are far from straightforward. Copying messages now require going to a separate context menu rather than just pressing ctrl+c.
On top of that, it no longer supports the excellent keyboard shortcuts that add‑ons like the NVDA WhatsApp addon once provided. Try excepting a whatsapp call with the web app thing, specially when you have multiple other programs and browser windows opened.
I was able to review messages word by word in the native app using NVDA's Object navigation, that was never an issue with that.

I do agree that the web version of WhatsApp takes longer to load, and I do miss the hotkeys and context menus from the older version.
It seems that there is still a hotkey to jump directly to the chats list (ctrl+2) but other than that I'm not aware of a hotkey to jump directly to the first unread message or the new message text box, or to pick up a call.