--- title: What Patient Portals Still Get Wrong for Screen Reader Users description: A screen reader user walks through the parts of patient portals that still break — test results, provider messages, and mobile app notifications. image: https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Michael%20Blog%20Images/HealthCare%20Blog.png --- - [skip to menu](https://blog.usablenet.com/what-patient-portals-still-get-wrong-for-screen-reader-users#nav) - [skip to content](https://blog.usablenet.com/what-patient-portals-still-get-wrong-for-screen-reader-users#main-content) - [skip to footer](https://blog.usablenet.com/what-patient-portals-still-get-wrong-for-screen-reader-users#footer) Test the accessibility of your website for free! Try UsableNet AQA. 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Recipients with 15 or more employees now have until **May 11, 2027**. Recipients with fewer than 15 employees now have until **May 10, 2028**. The accessibility issues Michael describes below haven't changed — only the timeline for fixing them has. [Read our updated Section 504 FAQ](https://blog.usablenet.com/hhs-section-504-digital-accessibility-faq). Patient portals have become the center of how I manage my healthcare. I use mine to schedule appointments, check test results, message my providers, and upload insurance documents. In 2026, almost every provider I see runs some kind of portal. Below, I'll walk through where patient portal accessibility breaks down for me as a screen reader user. I've written before about the [intake side of digital healthcare](https://blog.usablenet.com/healthcare-intake-screen-reader-accessibility). The portal is what I deal with after the visit, and it has its own set of issues. ## Navigating Test Results Pulling up my test results on my own is one of the things I appreciate most about portals. Where I used to wait days for blood work or exam results from a follow-up visit, I can now read them within hours of leaving the office. The catch is that getting through those screens with a screen reader has its own set of headaches. When I open something like a blood test, each value sits next to a small marker showing whether my number falls inside or outside the expected range. Most of the time the marker is a letter H for high or L for low. The trouble starts when those letters are styled in some decorative font instead of plain text. I assume the styling is meant to catch a sighted reader's eye while they scan for anything out of range. My screen reader treats those stylized characters as unlabeled images and skips right past them. So I have no way to tell which numbers are flagged and which ones I should follow up on with my provider. Imaging tests like x-rays show up a little differently. The portal will display the scan along with a written account from the radiologist describing what was found. The description will reference specific spots on the image, like marks or arrows pointing to areas of concern. My screen reader can't tell me anything about the image itself. When the report says something like "see the area marked in the upper right," I'm left guessing what the radiologist is actually pointing at. Without alt text on those marked points, the written account on its own only gets me halfway there. ## Provider Communications Messaging through the portal is how I do most of my back-and-forth with my providers now. The interfaces look different from one portal to the next, but the same accessibility issues seem to follow me wherever I go. The first is unlabeled buttons and fields in the inbox. Send buttons, edit buttons, and read/unread indicators all show up as nameless controls when the labels in the code are missing or wrong. I end up tabbing through a row of "button, button, button" with no idea what any of them do. Long replies from providers are usually collapsed by default to save space. Clicking the message is supposed to expand it. But hitting enter on the collapsed message with my screen reader sometimes does nothing, and I'm stuck staring at a one-line preview of a five-paragraph response. Replies sometimes include a link to a specific result or another part of the portal. My screen reader reads the link out loud, but pressing enter does nothing because the code marks it as plain text. A link I can't follow isn't really a link. ## Issues On Mobile The portals I use all have a mobile app version, and I open mine when I want to check something quickly while I'm out. The smaller screen brings its own pile of issues. To save space, the word-based menu items from the desktop site get replaced with icons. Without proper labels in the code, my screen reader either says nothing or just announces "button" when I land on one. The home screen of every portal app I've opened is a dashboard showing upcoming appointments, recent results, and pending tasks. My screen reader reads through everything on it just fine. The trouble is acting on what I'm hearing. There might be a notification reminding me to confirm an appointment, or a reminder that [a bill is waiting to be paid](https://blog.usablenet.com/what-its-like-to-pay-a-healthcare-bill-when-youre-blind). I hear the full notification clearly. But double tapping to confirm sometimes does nothing at all. My guess is that the whole notification is supposed to act as the button, and when the code isn't clean, my screen reader latches onto the text instead of the control. Direct touch on the screen will sometimes work as a workaround, but a workaround isn't accessibility. ## FAQ ### **Are some portals better than others?** A few I've used are noticeably less painful. The more proprietary the system, the more inconsistent the experience feels from one section to the next. ### **Do you ever just call the office instead?** Sometimes, yes. If a result page is unreadable or a message won't expand, it's faster to pick up the phone. But that kind of defeats the point of having a portal. ### **What's the single biggest issue you'd want fixed?** Properly labeled, properly activatable buttons everywhere. If I can hear it, I should be able to press it. That alone would solve about half of what I run into ## Closing thoughts Patient portals are doing a lot of the work that used to happen at a front desk or over the phone. They need to be just as accessible as the public side of any healthcare site. I'm sharing this with the [May 11 HHS Section 504 deadline](https://blog.usablenet.com/hhs-section-504-digital-accessibility-faq) in mind, since the portal experience doesn't always come up in that conversation. If you want more on this, [last week's live webinar on what still breaks for blind patients in healthcare](https://info.usablenet.com/healthcare-accessibility-webinar-what-still-breaks-for-blind-patients) covered ground I couldn't fit here. The recording is available to sign up for now. . *This is a guest post from our marketing contributor, Michael Taylor. It reflects his opinions and experiences.* [*Read more about Michael and some other posts on his experience online here.*](https://blog.usablenet.com/author/michael-taylor)  ![Michael Taylor](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Michael%20Taylor-4.jpg) ### [Michael Taylor](https://blog.usablenet.com/author/michael-taylor) I am a regular contributor to the UsableNet blog on digital accessibility. I develop, write, and edit content for the company blog related to my experiences with digital accessibility. I explore various areas of the digital world and combine my unique perspective as a screen reader user with my fun and creative writing style to deliver an informative and engaging final product. My goal is to advance the company's marketing initiatives while also raising awareness about digital accessibility and how it affects the lives of real-world assistive technology users. My work covers everything from common accessibility challenges to robust and accessible design to tutorial-like content for specific web elements. - - - - ### Related posts ![Hotel Website Accessibility: Check-in, Messaging, and In-Stay Barriers for Blind Guests](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Beachside-min.jpg) [Hotel Website Accessibility: Check-in, Messaging, and In-Stay Barriers for Blind Guests](https://blog.usablenet.com/hotel-website-accessibility-check-in-and-in-stay-barriers-for-blind-guests) Jul 15, 2026 ![Hotel Website Accessibility: Browsing Room Options](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Beachside-min.jpg) [Hotel Website Accessibility: Browsing Room Options](https://blog.usablenet.com/hotel-website-accessibility-browsing-room-options) Jul 14, 2026 ![Inside the 2026 Midyear Numbers: The ADA continues to be the ONLY true enforcement around](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Registration%20-%20Midyear%20Report.png) [Inside the 2026 Midyear Numbers: The ADA continues to be the ONLY true enforcement around](https://blog.usablenet.com/inside-the-2026-midyear-numbers-where-digital-accessibility-litigation-is-going) Jul 8, 2026 ![Real Estate Website Accessibility: Property Listing Pages and Screen Readers](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Real%20Estate%20Website%20Accessibility%20-%20Property%20Listing%20Pages%20and%20Screen%20Readers%201200%20x%20630.png) [Real Estate Website Accessibility: Property Listing Pages and Screen Readers](https://blog.usablenet.com/real-estate-website-accessibility-property-listing-pages-and-screen-readers) Jul 7, 2026 ### Sign Up for the UsableNet Blog ### Recent Posts ![feature image](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Beachside-min.jpg) [Hotel Website Accessibility: Check-in, Messaging, and In-Stay Barriers for Blind Guests](https://blog.usablenet.com/hotel-website-accessibility-check-in-and-in-stay-barriers-for-blind-guests) Jul 15, 2026 ![feature image](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Beachside-min.jpg) [Hotel Website Accessibility: Browsing Room Options](https://blog.usablenet.com/hotel-website-accessibility-browsing-room-options) Jul 14, 2026 ![feature image](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Registration%20-%20Midyear%20Report.png) [Inside the 2026 Midyear Numbers: The ADA continues to be the ONLY true enforcement around](https://blog.usablenet.com/inside-the-2026-midyear-numbers-where-digital-accessibility-litigation-is-going) Jul 8, 2026 ### Posts by Topic - [Web Accessibility (311)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/web-accessibility) - [User Experience (113)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/user-experience) - [ADA Lawsuits (45)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/ada-lawsuits) - [ADA Website Compliance (38)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/ada-website-compliance) - [European Accessibility Act (34)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/european-accessibility-act) - [Mobile Web (30)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/mobile-web) - [Mobile Apps (27)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/mobile-apps) - [Retail (27)](https://blog.usablenet.com/topic/retail) ![](https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Consultation%20Icon.svg) Need to improve digital usability, accessibility or performance? 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Stay up-to-date on our insights, the latest tech news and digital trends. ![International Association of Accessibility Professionals logo](https://blog.usablenet.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SaaS%20Theme/2023%20Header%20and%20Footer/IAAP-logo.png?width=150&height=81&name=IAAP-logo.png) © 2026 UsableNet Inc. ![International Association of Accessibility Professionals logo](https://blog.usablenet.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SaaS%20Theme/2023%20Header%20and%20Footer/IAAP-logo.png?width=150&height=81&name=IAAP-logo.png) © 2026 UsableNet Inc. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Michael Taylor", "url" : "https://blog.usablenet.com/author/michael-taylor" }, "dateModified" : "2026-05-11T20:30:00.457Z", "datePublished" : "2026-05-07T13:45:01.000Z", "headline" : "What Patient Portals Still Get Wrong for Screen Reader Users", "image" : [ "https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/Michael%20Blog%20Images/HealthCare%20Blog.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.usablenet.com/what-patient-portals-still-get-wrong-for-screen-reader-users", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.usablenet.com/hubfs/UsableNet%20Logo_Black.png" }, "name" : "UsableNet Inc." } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "about" : [ { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Digital accessibility" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Screen reader accessibility" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Healthcare patient intake" } ], "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Michael Taylor" }, "description" : "A screen reader user shares the accessibility issues he runs into on healthcare intake forms: unlabeled fields, broken date inputs, and mobile button quirks.", "headline" : "Healthcare Accessibility: New Patient Intake Forms and Screen Readers", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.usablenet.com/healthcare-accessibility-new-patient-intake-screen-readers", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://info.usablenet.com/hubfs/Logo_Black.png" }, "name" : "UsableNet" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The biggest ones are unlabeled text fields, required fields a screen reader can't identify, date inputs you can't move focus through, and mobile buttons that only register a direct touch. Any one of them can stop a blind patient from completing intake paperwork independently." }, "name" : "What accessibility issues do blind patients face on healthcare intake forms?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Most date fields split into month, day, and year sections, and screen reader focus often won't move past the first section even though the form accepts input without an error. The user thinks they entered the full date when only the month got recorded." }, "name" : "Why are date pickers hard for screen reader users?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "That defeats the point of a patient portal. Blind patients want to manage their own healthcare information independently, especially for anything sensitive." }, "name" : "Can't a screen reader user just ask someone for help with intake forms?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Yes. Some portals work well enough that a screen reader stays out of the way, and others have the issues described in this post. The frustrating part is you can't tell which kind you're dealing with until you're already inside the form." }, "name" : "Are some healthcare patient portals more accessible than others?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Proper labels on every field, required-field indicators that announce through a screen reader, date inputs that let focus move between sections, and mobile buttons that respond to swipe-and-double-tap the same way they respond to direct touch." }, "name" : "What would make healthcare intake forms accessible for screen reader users?" } ] } ```