Bug 300899

Summary:

AX: `aria-controls` and `aria-expanded` keeps elements with `hidden` attribute visible in Voice Over's Form Control menu

Product:

WebKit

Reporter:

Romaric <hello>

Component:

Accessibility

Assignee:

Tyler Wilcock <tyler_w>

Status:

RESOLVED FIXED

Severity:

Normal

CC:

andresg_22, webkit-bug-importer

Priority:

Keywords:

InRadar

Version:

Safari 18

Hardware:

Mac (Apple Silicon)

OS:

macOS 15

Attachments:

Description	Flags
Screenshot of Voice Over rotor showing the 'button'	none
Screenshot of Voice Over rotor showing the 'collapsed button'	none

Romaric

Reported 2025-10-16 09:22:13 PDT

Created attachment 477104 [details] Screenshot of Voice Over rotor showing the 'button' `<button>` elements with a `hidden` attribute should not appear in the Form Control menu in Voice Over's rotor. However the button in the following HTML will be listed as "button" in the menu (only its role, not its accessible name, which correctly appears if the button does not have the `hidden` attribute). ```html <button hidden aria-controls="panel">A button</button> <div id="panel">A panel with some content</div> ``` The issue seem to only happens if the value in `aria-controls` matches another element on the page. The following snippet will not have the button listed. ```html <button hidden aria-controls="non-existing-id">A button</button> <div id="panel">A panel with some content</div> ``` A workaround is to add an explicit `aria-hidden` attribute. The following snippet correctly doesn't show the button in the Form Control menu in Voice Over's rotor. ```html <button hidden aria-controls="panel">A button</button> <div id="panel">A panel with some content</div> ``` This issue was found while investigating a hidden button still being focusable with VoiceOver on iOS, so it may be worth checking this platform as well.

Attachments
Screenshot of Voice Over rotor showing the 'button' (1.15 MB, image/png) 2025-10-16 09:22 PDT, Romaric	no flags	Details
Screenshot of Voice Over rotor showing the 'collapsed button' (1.32 MB, image/png) 2025-10-17 01:41 PDT, Romaric	no flags	Details
View All Add attachment proposed patch, testcase, etc.

Radar WebKit Bug Importer

Comment 1 2025-10-16 09:22:18 PDT

<rdar://problem/162783041>

Romaric

Comment 2 2025-10-16 09:31:22 PDT

If that's useful, this is the pull request in which we're trying to work around the issue in our project: https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-design-system/pull/4892

Romaric

Comment 3 2025-10-17 01:41:25 PDT

Created attachment 477114 [details] Screenshot of Voice Over rotor showing the 'collapsed button' A button with `aria-expanded` seem to also get the button listed in VoiceOver's rotor, as shown in the latest. ```html <body><button hidden="" aria-expanded="false">A button</button> <div id="panel">A panel with some content</div></body> ```

Tyler Wilcock

Comment 4 2026-01-17 21:49:47 PST

Pull request: https://github.com/WebKit/WebKit/pull/56778

EWS

Comment 5 2026-01-20 13:14:49 PST

Committed 305902@main (5ffa3f091bc6): <https://commits.webkit.org/305902@main> Reviewed commits have been landed. Closing PR #56778 and removing active labels.

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