2008165 - Decorative image not programmatically identified (Timer widget > Play/Pause button)

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: New Tab Page, enhancement)

Description

[John Northup]

Steps to Reproduce

Open Dev Tools. Inspect the image within the Play/Pause button.

Expected Behavior

Image marked as decorative by alt="".

Actual Behavior

Image withheld from the accessibility tree by role="presentation".

User Impact

Although the image is removed from the accessibility tree, the role attribute relies on AT behavior rather than author-provided alt information. Using alt="" is the most robust method for identifying decorative images and is consistent with the First Rule of ARIA.

WCAG 2.2 References

Best practice only.

Recommendations

Apply alt="" and remove the role attribute.

Testing Environment

Any

Assistive Technology Used

Any

Code Pointers

<img role="presentation" src="chrome://global/skin/media/play-fill.svg">

<img role="presentation" src="chrome://global/skin/media/pause-fill.svg">

Further Reference

• WebAIM: Alternative Text: Decorative Images
• W3C: First Rule of ARIA Use

Comment 1

[John Northup]

Attachment: Timer Play/Pause button states

Comment 2

[❌ Anna Yeddi [:ayeddi] ❌ On leave until 2027-01-04]

Assigning the Severity value to align with the Accessibility severity, per discussions with :thecount and :marco