Case ce-0054-contenteditable-with-aria · Scenario scenario-accessibility-foundations

ARIA attributes on contenteditable are not properly announced

OS: macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Device: Desktop or Laptop Any Browser: Safari 120.0 Keyboard: US Status: draft
accessibility aria screen-reader safari

Phenomenon

When ARIA attributes (like role, aria-label, aria-describedby) are applied to contenteditable regions, screen readers may not properly announce them in Safari. The accessibility information is lost.

Reproduction example

  1. Create a contenteditable div with ARIA attributes:
    <div contenteditable role="textbox" aria-label="Editor" aria-describedby="help-text">
      Content here
    </div>
  2. Enable VoiceOver.
  3. Navigate to the contenteditable.
  4. Observe what is announced.

Observed behavior

  • In Safari on macOS, ARIA attributes may not be announced by screen readers.
  • The role and label information is lost.
  • Users relying on screen readers may not understand the purpose of the element.

Expected behavior

  • ARIA attributes should be properly announced by screen readers.
  • Role, label, and description should be communicated.
  • The element should be accessible to assistive technologies.

Browser compatibility matrix

This matrix shows which browser and OS combinations have documented cases for this scenario. The current case is highlighted. Click on a cell to view other cases.

Current case
Confirmed
Draft
No case documented

All variants (detailed table)

Complete list of all cases for this scenario with full environment details.

Case OS Device Browser Keyboard Status
ce-0015-screen-reader-announcements macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop or Laptop Any Safari 120.0 US draft
ce-0041-spellcheck-interferes macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop or Laptop Any Safari 120.0 US draft
ce-0054-contenteditable-with-aria macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop or Laptop Any Safari 120.0 US draft
ce-0573 macOS 15.0 Desktop Any Chrome 129.0 US QWERTY confirmed
ce-0574 Windows 11 Desktop Any Chrome 124.0 US QWERTY confirmed

Playground for this case

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Reported environment
OS: macOS Ubuntu 22.04
Device: Desktop or Laptop Any
Browser: Safari 120.0
Keyboard: US
Your environment
Sample HTML:
Event log
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0 events
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Comments & Discussion

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