react / react/react-native

[iOS] `accessibilityElementsHidden` does not work if the parent view is `accessible`

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#46,098 4 comments 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Issue: Author Provided Repro Platform: iOS
Dominant language
C++
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Description

When a parent view has the accessible prop set, VoiceOver reads all the text nodes and accessibility labels of its children even if one of them has a parent with the accessibilityElementsHidden / aria-hidden prop set.

Steps to reproduce
  1. Open the Expo Snack on an iOS device with Expo Go.
  2. Enable VoiceOver (triple press on the power button, if enabled in the settings. Otherwise enable it in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver).
  3. Verify that VoiceOver reads all three lines in both cases when it should only read "First layout" in the second one, like TalkBack on Android does.
React Native Version

0.74.5

Affected Platforms

Runtime - iOS

Output of npx react-native info
System:
  OS: macOS 14.6.1
  CPU: (10) arm64 Apple M1 Pro
  Memory: 536.33 MB / 32.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 21.6.1
    path: ~/.local/share/mise/installs/node/21.6.1/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 1.22.21
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 10.2.4
    path: ~/.local/share/mise/installs/node/21.6.1/bin/npm
  Watchman:
    version: 2024.03.18.00
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.15.2
    path: /Users/valou/.local/share/mise/installs/ruby/3.2.3/bin/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 23.2
      - iOS 17.2
      - macOS 14.2
      - tvOS 17.2
      - visionOS 1.0
      - watchOS 10.2
  Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: 2023.1 AI-231.9392.1.2311.11255304
  Xcode:
    version: 15.2/15C500b
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 17.0.10
    path: /Users/valou/.local/share/mise/installs/java/adoptopenjdk-17.0.10+7/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 3.2.3
    path: /Users/valou/.local/share/mise/installs/ruby/3.2.3/bin/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli": Not Found
  react:
    installed: 18.2.0
    wanted: 18.2.0
  react-native:
    installed: 0.74.5
    wanted: 0.74.5
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found
Stacktrace or Logs
N/A
Reproducer

https://snack.expo.dev/@vbriand/voiceover-accessible-bug

Screenshots and Videos

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/50c266e2-7906-4c31-b138-090f0038abf1

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the linked Expo Snack and reproduce the behavior on iOS with VoiceOver, focusing on the interaction between accessible and accessibilityElementsHidden/aria-hidden. Compare the result with TalkBack on Android and trace the React Native iOS accessibility handling involved. Done means VoiceOver reads only “First layout” when the nested content is hidden while preserving the existing accessible-parent behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
react-native
Domain
accessibility, mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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