Bug 231724 – AX: VoiceOver doesn't announce aria-activedescendant value for select-only combobox specification

• Status: NEW
• Component: Accessibility

[Nabeel K]

Safari(Version 15.0 (15612.1.29.41.4, 15612)) + VoiceOver doesn't support select-only combobox specification
https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.2/#combobox

Steps to reproduce:

1. Start VoiceOver and open https://w3c.github.io/aria-practices/examples/combobox/combobox-select-only.html

2. Navigating to the combobox input, VO announces shortcut to open the listbox (VO key + space).

3. Notice that this combination doesn't work, but simply pressing space works

4. Try to navigate through the available options, VoiceOver doesn't announce anything


Expected Result:
Will be able to open the listbox using VoiceOver announced key combination(VO key + space) and VoiceOver reads the current aria-activedescendant option

Actual Result:
Unable to open the listbox using VoiceOver announced key combination(VO key + space) and VO doesn't read the current aria-activedescendant option

Notes:
Tested on other browsers and is working properly with Firefox (92.0) and Chrome (94.0) when used with VoiceOver in Mac (10.15)

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/84236132>

[Aron Janecki]

Point number 2 and 3 are related to Bug 236881 (something is happening when aria-expanded is added to an element with role="comobox").

As for point 4- using arrow keys to navigate through options does not work because aria-controls is not appropriatelyimplemented. In the previous iterations (https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/examples/combobox/aria1.0pattern/combobox-autocomplete-list.html) all works fine because the listbox is associated through aria-owns on the combobox. 

The 1.2 pattern requires that aria-activedescendant works through the use of aria-controls, see the following from the ARIA spec about comboboxes:

"... one common convention is that Down Arrow moves focus from the input to the first focusable descendant of the popup element. If the popup element supports aria-activedescendant, in lieu of moving focus, such keyboard mechanisms can control the value of aria-activedescendant on the combobox element. When a descendant of the popup element is active, authors MAY set aria-activedescendant on the combobox to a value that refers to the active element within the popup while focus remains on the combobox element."

So, Chrome and Firefox have implemented the support for aria-activedescendant when using aria-controls.

I think the whole thing is quite confusing because the definition of aria-activedescendant does not mention anything about aria-controls.

Anyway, please, please, please implement this as soon as possible as none of the 1.2 patterns work in safari- the only way to do it at the moment is by adding aria-owns which caused issues in the past for touch screen devices.

[Aron Janecki]

Scratch my comment about the confusing thing, just checked and point two of the definition of aria-activedescendant is clear:

"The element with DOM focus is a combobox, textbox or searchbox with aria-controls referring to an element that supports aria-activedescendant, and the value of aria-activedescendant refers to an owned element of the controlled element. For example, in a combobox, focus may remain on the combobox while the value of aria-activedescendant on the combobox element refers to a descendant of a popup listbox that is controlled by the combobox."

https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.2/#aria-activedescendant

So, please implement.

[Giacomo Petri]

Still not working.

Using Safari + VO users are still not able to perceive the available options.

[Giacomo Petri]

https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/example-index/combobox/combobox-select-only.html

[pweil]

What is the status of this, please? The problem still exists with Safari 16.5 and MacOS 12.6.6. Virtually all of the APG 1.2 Combobox patterns rely on aria-activedescendant for reading out the current option.Please assign this to someone and implement the specs ASAP.

Hello, what is the status of this ticket? This issue prevents MAC users from utilizing our community portal. Thank you.

[Joe Watkins]

Still an issue in 2024. MacOS 14.4.1 / Safari 17.4

[Kiya]

This is still an issue with Safari Version 17.5, MacOS: Sonoma Version 14.5

Still reproducible at https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/patterns/combobox/examples/combobox-select-only/ VoiceOver does not read the options in the listbox.
It works in other browsers (Chrome, Firefox).

Likely this is very related to Bug 209076. As Nick Williams said there; The criteria for a fix should be "all ARIA APG combobox/listbox examples work as expected/intended".

A fix for this would be really impactful for my company's design system and customers. Please!

[Fligothe]

This issue is specific to Safari and VoiceOver. It works properly with Firefox (92.0) and Chrome (94.0) when used with VoiceOver on Mac (10.15) https://github.com/w3c/aria-practices/issues/2060https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255614236 https://spacewaves.io.

[Andres Gonzalez]

Thanks for the report!

Could you please explain what specific behavior is still a problem in MacOS Sequoia 15?

When VO lands on the combobox either by tabbing or VO arrow keys navigation, the user can make a selection using the up and down arrow keys, no need to press VO Space or VO arrow keys to read the choices, plain up and down arrows are sufficient. VO announces the new selection as they are made. Once the new selection is committed to the combobox by pressing Enter or tabbing away, VO announces the new value in any subsequent landing on the combobox.

Again, thanks in advance for any clarification on what the expected user experience should be.