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fix(aria-allowed-role): allow roles on a non-details summary - #5242

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straker merged 7 commits into
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chut/3911-summary-allowances
Aug 4, 2026
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fix(aria-allowed-role): allow roles on a non-details summary#5242
straker merged 7 commits into
developfrom
chut/3911-summary-allowances

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@chutchins25 chutchins25 commented Jul 22, 2026

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Updates the roles allowed on a <summary> element based on whether it is its parent <details> element's disclosure trigger, per the ARIA in HTML update.

What & why

Per ARIA in HTML (#el-summary, w3c/html-aria#435):

  • A summary that is the "summary for its parent details" (the first summary child of a details) allows no explicit role — browsers expose it as the disclosure trigger.
  • A summary that is not the details summary (standalone, or a 2nd+ summary) is exposed as generic and allows any role.

axe previously modeled summary with an unconditional allowedRoles: false. This converts it to a variant using a condition matcher (the same pattern introduced for figure in #3443).

Scope — role side only

Issue #3911 covers both the allowed roles and the allowed aria-* attributes for summary. This PR implements the role side. The attribute side (the spec disallows aria-expanded/aria-pressed on a details-summary) is intentionally deferred — it requires an element-level disallowed-attribute mechanism axe does not have today, and is tracked in #5241.

Behavior change

A standalone / non-details <summary> now permits any role, where previously only the implicit button role was allowed. This is a spec-correct loosening; a <details>-summary's role handling is unchanged in effect (still restricted to its implicit button role).

Tests

  • get-element-spec unit — variant resolution for the three cases (details summary, non-first summary, standalone).
  • aria-allowed-role check unit — incl. an open Shadow DOM case.
  • aria-allowed-role virtual-rule — details/summary structures built with SerialVirtualNode, incl. the no-parent default.
  • aria-allowed-role integration HTML/JSON — first-summary fail, 2nd-summary pass, standalone pass, implicit-button pass.

Closes #3911

@chutchins25
fix(aria-allowed-role): allow roles on a non-details summary
0cf95be 
A summary that is not its parent details element's disclosure trigger is
exposed as generic and may take any role. A summary that is the details
summary continues to allow no explicit role. Per ARIA in HTML
(w3c/html-aria#435).

The attribute-side of the spec change (disallowing aria-expanded and
aria-pressed on a details summary) is tracked separately in #5241.

Closes #3911
straker
straker requested changes Jul 23, 2026
View reviewed changes
Comment thread lib/standards/html-elms.js Outdated
Comment thread lib/standards/html-elms.js
Comment thread test/checks/aria/aria-allowed-role.js Outdated
Comment thread test/checks/aria/aria-allowed-role.js Outdated
Comment thread test/commons/standards/get-element-spec.js Outdated
@chutchins25
test: remove unneeded summary tests per review feedback
9d0d4fb 
Drop the inside-shadow-DOM aria-allowed-role case (no boundary crossing),
the generic get-element-spec summary cases (covered by integration), and
the implicit-button-role assertion (summary's implicit role is a separate
question being tracked independently).
@chutchins25
chutchins25 force-pushed the chut/3911-summary-allowances branch from 943e379 to 9d0d4fb Compare July 29, 2026 15:11
@chutchins25
chutchins25 marked this pull request as ready for review July 29, 2026 17:43
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 29, 2026 17:43
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chutchins25 requested a review from a team as a code owner July 29, 2026 17:43
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Pull request overview

This PR updates axe-core’s HTML element standards data so <summary> role allowance matches the ARIA in HTML clarification: a <summary> that is the disclosure trigger for its parent <details> disallows author-specified roles, while other <summary> elements allow any role. This is implemented via a variant condition on the summary element spec and is exercised via unit, integration, and virtual-rule tests.

Changes:

  • Update lib/standards/html-elms.js to resolve <summary> allowedRoles via a variant that detects whether it is the first <summary> child of a <details>.
  • Add unit + integration + virtual-rule coverage for: details-summary (role disallowed), non-first summary (any role allowed), and standalone summary (any role allowed).
  • Extend existing aria-allowed-role fixtures to include new <details>/<summary> cases.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file
File Description
test/integration/virtual-rules/aria-allowed-role.js Adds virtual-rule cases covering the new summary role-allowance behavior.
test/integration/rules/aria-allowed-role/aria-allowed-role.json Adds pass/fail selectors for the new summary role cases.
test/integration/rules/aria-allowed-role/aria-allowed-role.html Adds <details>/<summary> and standalone <summary> fixtures for integration coverage.
test/checks/aria/aria-allowed-role.js Adds unit tests asserting allowed/unallowed roles for details-summary vs non-details summary.
lib/standards/html-elms.js Introduces a summary element variant to conditionally set allowedRoles.

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Comment thread lib/standards/html-elms.js Outdated
@chutchins25
chutchins25 marked this pull request as draft July 29, 2026 20:18
@chutchins25
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/develop' into chut/3911-summary-…
3f9094f 
…allowances
@chutchins25
refactor(aria-allowed-role): use the isSummaryForDetails matcher for …
d1e6184 
…the summary variant

Replace the inline condition function in the summary variant with the
serializable isSummaryForDetails matcher from #5262 so the standards
object stays function-free. The matcher intentionally throws for a
disconnected (parentless) node, so the virtual-rule test now gives the
summary a non-details parent.
@chutchins25
chutchins25 marked this pull request as ready for review August 3, 2026 20:46
@chutchins25
refactor(aria-allowed-role): apply review conventions to the summary …
1390147 
…variant

Per Steve's figure-PR review conventions: remove the spec-defined variant
comments and drop the duplicated check and virtual-rule tests (the
aria-allowed-role integration tests cover the summary cases).
straker
straker previously approved these changes Aug 4, 2026
View reviewed changes
@chutchins25
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/develop' into chut/3911-summary-…
58ae619 
…allowances

# Conflicts:
#	test/integration/rules/aria-allowed-role/aria-allowed-role.html
#	test/integration/rules/aria-allowed-role/aria-allowed-role.json
@chutchins25

chutchins25 commented Aug 4, 2026

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@straker rebased onto develop — the merge conflicts are resolved. They were additive fixture collisions with the figure fixtures from #5240 that landed on develop, so I kept both the figure and summary cases in the aria-allowed-role integration fixtures. All 8 fixtures pass. It's mergeable now and there are no open threads, so it should be ready for another look whenever you get a chance.

@straker
straker merged commit 3bd9875 into develop Aug 4, 2026
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@straker
straker deleted the chut/3911-summary-allowances branch August 4, 2026 14:59
@attest-team-ci attest-team-ci mentioned this pull request Aug 5, 2026
Merged
WilcoFiers added a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 5, 2026
@WilcoFiers
chore(release): v4.13.0 (#5288)
1cc54b9 
All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See
[commit-and-tag-version](https://github.com/absolute-version/commit-and-tag-version)
for commit guidelines.

##
[4.13.0](v4.12.1...v4.13.0)
(2026-08-05)

### Features

- **aria-actions:** add aria-actions to allowed ARIA attributes
([#5200](#5200))
([029655d](029655d)),
closes [#4584](#4584)
[#5199](#5199), references
[#5215](#5215)
[#5215](#5215)
- **aria-allowed-attr:** flag deprecated ARIA attributes as needs-review
([#5246](#5246))
([518f3cc](518f3cc)),
closes [#3341](#3341)
- **aria-prohibited-attr:** allow many elements to be named and disallow
label and body from being named
([#5259](#5259))
([d8b1ea5](d8b1ea5))
- **aria-roles:** add sectionheader and sectionfooter roles
([#5238](#5238))
([c36c109](c36c109)),
closes [#4734](#4734),
references [#4734](#4734)
- **aria/get-aria-value:** new function to get aria values of a node
([#5109](#5109))
([a7d8f3e](a7d8f3e)),
references [#5042](#5042)
- **aria/has-attr-value:** new function to check if node has aria value
([#5136](#5136))
([61f2624](61f2624)),
references [#5109](#5109)
- **aria:** support role=image as equivalent to role=img
([#5248](#5248))
([5aa8aaf](5aa8aaf)),
closes [#4656](#4656),
references [#5272](#5272)
- **checks/aria:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5172](#5172))
([9b7f754](9b7f754))
- **checks/label:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5170](#5170))
([21c5f8b](21c5f8b))
- **checks/navigation:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5167](#5167))
([2c3a98f](2c3a98f))
- **commons/aria:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5171](#5171))
([31f09e7](31f09e7))
- **commons/dom:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5163](#5163))
([f0a12cf](f0a12cf))
- **commons/forms:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5165](#5165))
([27a4686](27a4686))
- **commons/matches/fromPrimative:** deprecate in favor of correct
spelling ([#5270](#5270))
([31cfb2e](31cfb2e))
- **commons/text:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5169](#5169))
([e841a33](e841a33))
- **commons/text:** support form-associated labels via element internals
([#5182](#5182))
([57cfe0a](57cfe0a)),
closes [#5045](#5045),
references [#5170](#5170)
[#5039](#5039)
[#5151](#5151)
[#5039](#5039)
- **dom/getResolvedRefs:** new function to get the resolved virtual
nodes of idrefs
([#5151](#5151))
([489cdea](489cdea)),
references [#5109](#5109)
- **element-internals:** enable ElementInternals by default
([#5284](#5284))
([2740d42](2740d42)),
closes [#5277](#5277)
- **i18n:** Add Swedish locale
([#5190](#5190))
([dcd13f2](dcd13f2)),
references [#5189](#5189)
- **matches:** add inSectioningContent, hasChild, and
isSummaryForDetails matches
([#5262](#5262))
([c47cdcd](c47cdcd))
- **rules:** support ARIA element internals properties
([#5168](#5168))
([065baf7](065baf7))
- **standards/ariaAttrs:** add caseInsensitive property for attributes
([#5224](#5224))
([bcd791c](bcd791c))

### Bug Fixes

- **aria-allowed-role:** allow roles on a non-details summary
([#5242](#5242))
([3bd9875](3bd9875)),
closes [#3911](#3911),
references [#3443](#3443)
[#3911](#3911)
- **aria-allowed-role:** restrict figure roles with child figcaption
([#5240](#5240))
([178a635](178a635)),
closes [#3443](#3443)
- **aria-prohibited-attr:** visible aria-labelledby requires review only
([#5285](#5285))
([fd6fa9f](fd6fa9f))
- **axe.d.ts:** make enabled property of RuleMetadata optional
([#5129](#5129))
([90fce18](90fce18))
- **color-contrast:** fix various stacking context bugs
([#5214](#5214))
([d5e5b04](d5e5b04)),
references [#8](#8)
[#5213](#5213)
- **gather-internals:** handle non-HTMLElement nodes
([#5161](#5161))
([06e84c3](06e84c3))
- **get-selector:** escape control characters in attribute selectors
([#5273](#5273))
([4b60ac5](4b60ac5)),
closes [#5204](#5204)
[#5204](#5204)
- **image-alt:** allow whitespace alt on presentational images
([#5218](#5218))
([c5dd0ef](c5dd0ef)),
closes [#5216](#5216)
- **landmark-unique:** exclude section/form with non-landmark roles from
landmark match
([#5085](#5085))
([c5fd013](c5fd013)),
closes [#4722](#4722)
[#5064](#5064)
- name the image role in role-img-alt and svg-img-alt metadata
([#5279](#5279))
([995a269](995a269)),
closes [#5272](#5272),
references [#5248](#5248)
[#5248](#5248)
- **standards:** update aria-errormessage and aria-details to be idrefs
([#5157](#5157))
([fb94f8a](fb94f8a))

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ARIA in HTML update for summary element allowances

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