12/04/17
Generally speaking iOS/VoiceOver does not follow shallow focus targets. Since around iOS 10, it appears that when focus is not moved directly to text, VoiceOver does not follow it, such as the case when moving focus to the outer container of a deeply nested structure.
My recommendation is to move focus closest to the text you want the user to hear as seen in the example below.
Open Dialog| OS | Browser | Screen Reader | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| iOS 11.2 | Safari | VoiceOver | VoiceOver announces desired text and the virtual cursor can access all of the dialog's content. |