fix(a11y): drop role=textbox / aria-multiline from innerdocbody (#7778)

[JohnMcLear]

Summary

• Removes role="textbox" and aria-multiline="true" from innerdocbody
• Keeps aria-label="Pad content" and aria-describedby="editor-keyboard-hint"
• Adds Playwright regression test asserting the attrs stay absent

Lighter alternative to the AT-only read mirror originally sketched in #7778 — pure ARIA strip, no DOM restructuring, no plugin impact.

Why

Murphy's 2026-05-16 re-test of #7255 said "you still can't cycle through the text properly line by line to press links and such". The narrower fixes in #7777 don't address that — it's the textbox role doing the damage:

• role="textbox" + aria-multiline="true" pin NVDA/JAWS into focus mode for the entire pad.
• In focus mode: arrow keys move the caret one character at a time, P/H/K rotor shortcuts are suppressed, links don't appear in the rotor's links list.
• That matches the reported symptoms exactly.

contenteditable="true" alone is enough to tell AT this is editable. Without the textbox role, NVDA/JAWS browse the content as document-mode HTML, restoring line-by-line arrow nav and rotor access to headings + links.

Acceptance criteria from #7778 — partial

This is the cheap experiment first. If the ARIA strip alone unblocks line / link / heading navigation in real AT, the heavier mirror approach in #7778 isn't needed. If headings still feel flat, we layer role="paragraph" onto each <div class="ace-line"> next.

Test plan

• CI: new innerdocbody does not advertise role=textbox / aria-multiline (#7778) Playwright test passes
• CI: existing Inaccessibility to screenreaders #7255 regression tests (skip-to-content, line-number sidediv hidden, keyboard-hint text) still pass
• Local manual: arrow-down through a multi-line pad in NVDA/JAWS/VoiceOver and confirm caret moves line-by-line in browse mode
• Local manual: open the rotor / elements list and confirm headings (h1-h4 from ep_headings2) + links surface
• @StrangeGirlMurph real-screen-reader retest of Inaccessibility to screenreaders #7255 once this is on a build

Refs #7255 #7777

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Review Summary by Qodo

Remove textbox role from editor body for AT navigation

🐞 Bug fix 🧪 Tests

Walkthroughs

Description

• Removes role="textbox" and aria-multiline="true" from innerdocbody element
  - These attributes forced NVDA/JAWS into focus mode, hiding links/headings from rotor
  - Prevented line-by-line arrow navigation through pad content
• Retains aria-label and aria-describedby for accessibility announcements
• Adds Playwright regression test to ensure attributes remain absent

Diagram

flowchart LR
  A["innerdocbody element"] -->|remove| B["role=textbox"]
  A -->|remove| C["aria-multiline=true"]
  A -->|keep| D["aria-label=Pad content"]
  A -->|keep| E["aria-describedby=editor-keyboard-hint"]
  B -->|result| F["AT browses as document"]
  C -->|result| F
  F -->|enables| G["Line-by-line navigation"]
  F -->|enables| H["Rotor access to links/headings"]

Loading

File Changes

1. src/static/js/ace.ts 🐞 Bug fix +6/-2

Remove textbox role from editor body

• Removes setAttribute('role', 'textbox') from innerdocbody body element
• Removes setAttribute('aria-multiline', 'true') from innerdocbody body element
• Adds detailed comment explaining why textbox role and aria-multiline are omitted
• Retains aria-label and aria-describedby attributes for accessibility

src/static/js/ace.ts

---

2. src/tests/frontend-new/specs/a11y_dialogs.spec.ts 🧪 Tests +16/-0

Add regression test for innerdocbody ARIA attributes

• Adds new Playwright test innerdocbody does not advertise role=textbox / aria-multiline (#7778)
• Tests that innerdocbody element has no role attribute
• Tests that innerdocbody element has no aria-multiline attribute
• Verifies aria-label and aria-describedby attributes are still present

src/tests/frontend-new/specs/a11y_dialogs.spec.ts

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Code Review by Qodo

🐞 Bugs (1) 📘 Rule violations (0) 📎 Requirement gaps (0)

Context used

✅ Tickets: 🎫 Inaccessibility to screenreaders 🎫 a11y: Provide an AT-only read view of pad content (line-by-line + link navigation)

1. Non-retrying attr assertions 🐞 Bug ☼ Reliability

Description

The new Playwright regression test uses getAttribute()+toBeNull() for role/aria-multiline, which
does not auto-retry and can be flaky if those attributes are set/cleared asynchronously during init
or by plugins. Other assertions in the same spec use Playwright’s auto-waiting matchers, so this
inconsistency increases intermittent CI failure risk.

Code

src/tests/frontend-new/specs/a11y_dialogs.spec.ts[R293-294]

+  expect(await body.getAttribute('role')).toBeNull();
+  expect(await body.getAttribute('aria-multiline')).toBeNull();

Evidence

The new test uses one-shot getAttribute() checks for absence, while the same file uses
Playwright’s auto-waiting toHaveAttribute() matcher elsewhere, indicating the reliability gap and
inconsistency.

src/tests/frontend-new/specs/a11y_dialogs.spec.ts[283-297]
src/tests/frontend-new/specs/a11y_dialogs.spec.ts[24-28]

Agent prompt

The issue below was found during a code review. Follow the provided context and guidance below and implement a solution

### Issue description
The test asserts missing attributes via `getAttribute()` + `toBeNull()`, which is a one-shot read and does not benefit from Playwright’s built-in polling/retry. This can cause flakes if the DOM is still settling or if any async code temporarily modifies attributes.

### Issue Context
The same spec file already uses `await expect(locator).toHaveAttribute(...)` for other ARIA checks, which is the preferred pattern because it auto-waits until the condition is satisfied.

### Fix Focus Areas
- src/tests/frontend-new/specs/a11y_dialogs.spec.ts[283-297]

### Suggested change
Replace the one-shot assertions with auto-waiting expectations, e.g.:

```ts
await expect(body).not.toHaveAttribute('role', /.*/);
await expect(body).not.toHaveAttribute('aria-multiline', /.*/);
// or more specific:
// await expect(body).not.toHaveAttribute('role', 'textbox');
// await expect(body).not.toHaveAttribute('aria-multiline', 'true');
```

This keeps the intent (attributes must be absent) but makes the test resilient to timing variance.

ⓘ Copy this prompt and use it to remediate the issue with your preferred AI generation tools

---

[JohnMcLear]

Waiting user testing.