[Webkit-unassigned] [Bug 257273] New: AX: Voiceover on Safari ariadescendant not cooperating with UP and DOWN arrow keys

[bugzilla-daemon at webkit.org]

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=257273

            Bug ID: 257273
           Summary: AX: Voiceover on Safari ariadescendant not cooperating
                    with UP and DOWN arrow keys
           Product: WebKit
           Version: WebKit Nightly Build
          Hardware: Mac (Intel)
                OS: macOS 13
            Status: NEW
          Severity: Normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: Accessibility
          Assignee: webkit-unassigned at lists.webkit.org
          Reporter: john.robert.mcc at gmail.com
                CC: andresg_22 at apple.com,
                    webkit-bug-importer at group.apple.com

Hello,

I am writing to inquire about an a11y issue revolving around Voiceover with Safari. While creating a custom html search box, Voiceover on Safari does not read the activedescendant property of it's sibling while navigating with arrow keys. It should be noted that Voiceover behaves as expected using both Chrome and Firefox.

The code structure:

<input
  aria-activedescendant="the_option_id"
  aria-owns="the_figure_id"
  aria-controls="the_figure_id" <-- Neither owns nor control work on Safari, only one should be used.
  role="combobox"
/>

<figure id="the_figure_id">
 <figcaption>The list title</figcaption> 
    <ol>
       <li role="option" aria-selected="true" id="the_option_id" aria-label="The Aria Label">
            The List Option
        </li> 
    </ol>
 </figure>

With custom javascript to watch for the user's up arrow and down arrow to change the active-descendant id as well as the aria-selected attribute.

Expected behavior (and the behavior found in Chrome/Firefox with VoiceOver/Orca/TalkBack/JAWS):
If aria-selected, and if an activedescendant of aria-owns (or aria-controls), then VoiceOver should be reading aloud "The Aria Label". Details here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/Attributes/aria-activedescendant

Actual Behavior:
Voiceover on Safari only instead reads "Start/End of Input", ignoring the aria attributes assigned.

Considering that Voiceover cooperates on Chrome and Firefox, I am going to assume that this is a Safari bug. Is there any place for me to file a bug against Safari that will be addressed? 

Historically there have been multiple bugs filed against this, all pointing to Safari not behaving properly:

1) 2021 - https://github.com/tailwindlabs/headlessui/issues/947
2) 2019 - https://github.com/nolanlawson/pinafore/issues/1629
3) 2017 - https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=167680
4) 2016 - https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=161734

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