bug(CDK a11y, Tooltip, SortHeader): AriaDescriber not working inside Shadow DOM
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
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Description
### Is this a regression?
- [ ] Yes, this behavior used to work in the previous version
### The previous version in which this bug was not present was
_No response_
### Description
The AriaDescriber service creates a container element and appends it to the body. The messages inside the container are linked with the host element using `aria-describedby` when calling `ariaDescriber.describe()`.
When the host element is inside Shadow DOM this will not work properly because the hidden message element (that is referenced via `aria-describedby`) is outside of the Shadow DOM and will be ignored by the browser.
### Reproduction
I actually had the problem with Angular Material Tooltips and Table Sort Header (which use AriaDescriber) but for the repro I use the AriaDescriber service directly. I set a description on a button in the Example component which uses `ViewEncapsulation.ShadowDom`.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Open the repro https://stackblitz.com/edit/components-issue-rxwpmf?file=src/app/example-component.ts
2. Inspect the "Action" button
3. Open the "Accessibility" tab in the inspector
### Expected Behavior
The button should have the description "Some description" which was created via AriaDescriber service.
### Actual Behavior
The button has no description.

The `aria-describedby` attribute is there but the referenced element is ignored because it's outside of the Shadow DOM. It works if I set `encapsulation` on the component to `Emulated`.
### Environment
- Angular: 13.3.0
- CDK/Material: 13.3.0
- Browser(s): Brave
- Operating System (e.g. Windows, macOS, Ubuntu): macOS
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start with the AriaDescriber service and reproduce the issue using the linked StackBlitz example with ViewEncapsulation.ShadowDom. Verify the behavior through the browser Accessibility inspector; done means the button exposes “Some description” while retaining Shadow DOM encapsulation.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- angular, typescript
- Domain
- accessibility, frontend
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100