dequelabs / dequelabs/axe-core

aria-valid-attr-value rule too strict on aria-controls / aria-owns

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#4,202 5 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
ACT Rules fix
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

The following shouldn't fail this rule:

```html
Open the modal
```

This is an example from the new [ARIA required ID references exist](https://wai-wcag-act-rules.netlify.app/standards-guidelines/act/rules/in6db8/proposed/#test-cases) ACT rule that axe got wrong. It seems we put some logic around not requiring aria-controls not to fail when aria-expanded="false" is used. That came from combobox, but I think that when aria-controls (and aria-owns) isn't required axe-core should report it as needs review when the ref is missing, not as fail.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the aria-valid-attr-value rule and reproduce the reported button example with aria-controls="my-modal", then compare it with the aria-expanded="false" combobox behavior described in the issue. Done means missing references for non-required aria-controls and aria-owns are reported as needs review rather than fail, while required references still fail appropriately.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
accessibility
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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