angular / angular/components

bug(MatTree): MatTree with interactive elements in each row is not keyboard accessible using a screenreader

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#22,419 9 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Accessibility area: cdk/tree P3
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

#### Reproduction

Use StackBlitz to reproduce your issue:
- Components: https://angular-p4bmmy-zxpv6j.stackblitz.io

Steps to reproduce:
1. Navigate to StackBlitz link above on a Windows machine
2. Use the keyboard to interact with the tree by tabbing to a node, pressing enter or space to expand it, then tabbing to a nested checkbox and selecting it. Do not use the mouse.
3. Enable JAWS or NVDA screen reader
4. Attempt to repeat step 2, using the keyboard to interact with the tree
5. Manually expand the tree using the mouse then tab through the elements until you get to a nested checkbox. Press space or enter to select the checkbox.

![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/81990996/113909821-21101700-97a6-11eb-8031-6c4e615673e7.png)

#### Expected Behavior
Enabling a screen reader should not change the behavior when interacting with the tree using a keyboard. With a screen reader enabled, I should be able to expand a row, tab to a nested checkbox, and select the checkbox using only the keyboard.

#### Actual Behavior
Hitting space or enter appears to send the click event to the first encountered input element, rather than the focused element. In the linked example, this can be either the textbox above the tree or an unfocused checkbox, depending on how you tab through the list. Either way, the focused element doesn't seem to receive the event.

#### Environment

JAWS v2021.2102.34 / NVDA v2020.4 (reproducible with both)
Windows 10 Enterprise Version
Chrome Version 89.0.4389.114

Also tested with Firefox Version 87.0, but was not able to reproduce on FF

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the linked StackBlitz reproduction and repeat the keyboard-only steps in Chrome on Windows with JAWS or NVDA. Compare behavior with and without the screen reader, including the nested checkbox and the textbox above the tree. Done means the focused element receives Enter or Space and the tree remains keyboard accessible with a screen reader, while preserving the reported Firefox behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
angular, typescript
Domain
accessibility, frontend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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