Bug 239479 – AX: Support display:contents for table elements

• Component: Accessibility
• Status: RESOLVED FIXED

[Tyler Wilcock]

Setting display:contents on any table-related element (e.g. <table>, <tr>, <td>, ...) breaks AX semantics for the table.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/91931942>

[Adrian Roselli]

Test page: https://codepen.io/aardrian/pen/xxGEKKJ

[Roman Komarov]

Just want to bump this issue — `display: contents` currently properly works on table elements both in Chrome and Firefox, it would be really nice for it to also work in Safari.

[Devon Govett]

Note that this affects more than just HTML <table> elements, it also affects any element with role="grid".

[Adrian Roselli]

Created attachment 466544 [details]
Video of Safari iPadOS 16.5 navigating assorted tables via swipe-right (with some explore-by-touch to demonstrate cells mid-table).

I filed a broader issue:
https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=257458

It demonstrates how table cells with `flex`, `grid`, and `contents` caus the entire table to be skipped. Table cells with `block` and `inline-block` report incorrect counts, header associations, and row info.

[Tyler Wilcock]

STP 174 was just released with table improvements:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-technology-preview-release-notes/stp-release-174#Accessibility

With STP 174, I am able to Ctrl-Option-Arrow and Ctrl-Option-A (read-all) through the display:contents table in the testcase created by Adrian (https://cdpn.io/aardrian/debug/xxGEKKJ). 

> Note that this affects more than just HTML <table> elements, it also affects any element with role="grid".
This was indeed true, and should also be addressed in STP 174 (fixed by https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=258430)

Will leave this open for folks to test STP 174 if interested. Please let me know if you encounter additional issues. Thanks!

[Adrian Roselli]

Using Safari Technology Preview 174 on macOS 13.4.1, I found the following two issues:

1. Tables with display: contents on the <td> and <th> can be navigated into using table navigation (Ctrl + Opt + arrows)., but VoiceOver announces each cell as “blank”.

2. Tables with display: contents on the <td> and <th> do not announce cell contents when using read-all (Ctrl + Opt + A). VoiceOver simply announces the column and row position.

[Tyler Wilcock]

(In reply to Adrian Roselli from comment #7)
> Using Safari Technology Preview 174 on macOS 13.4.1, I found the following
> two issues:
> 
> 1. Tables with display: contents on the <td> and <th> can be navigated into
> using table navigation (Ctrl + Opt + arrows)., but VoiceOver announces each
> cell as “blank”.
> 
> 2. Tables with display: contents on the <td> and <th> do not announce cell
> contents when using read-all (Ctrl + Opt + A). VoiceOver simply announces
> the column and row position.
These should be fixed by https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=259608 which just landed in `main`. Will post here when that fix is in a Safari Technology Preview (but it should also be in the release notes). Thanks!

[Tyler Wilcock]

> These should be fixed by https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=259608
> which just landed in `main`. Will post here when that fix is in a Safari
> Technology Preview (but it should also be in the release notes). Thanks!
This fix was just released in STP 176: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safari-technology-preview-release-notes/stp-release-176

[Adrian Roselli]

Tested again in Safari Technology Preview 176 on macOS 13.4.1 for *only* the two new issues I found (I am not testing for regressions):

1. WORKS. Tables with display: contents on the <td> and <th> can be navigated into using table navigation (Ctrl + Opt + arrows)., but VoiceOver announces each cell as “blank”.

2. WORKS. Tables with display: contents on the <td> and <th> do not announce cell contents when using read-all (Ctrl + Opt + A). VoiceOver simply announces the column and row position.

Again, I *did not* test on iOS/iPadOS.

I am happy to see this progress.

[Tyler Wilcock]

Closing as this was fixed by:

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=258439
https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=259608