2008190 - Dialog not programmatically identified as modal (Settings dialog)

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: New Tab Page, enhancement)

Description

[John Northup]

Steps to Reproduce

Open DevTools. Activate the Customize button. Inspect the Settings dialog container.

Expected Behavior

Dialog container has aria-modal="true".

Actual Behavior

Dialog container lacks the aria-modal attribute.

User Impact

Semantic information diluted.

WCAG 2.2 References

Best practice only. While aria-modal="true" adds semantic information, its absence does not constitute a WCAG failure provided the dialog itself is properly implemented and announced.

Recommendations

Apply aria-modal="true" to the dialog container. This is the clearest, least fragile way to convey "this is modal" to screen readers.

Testing Environment

Any

Assistive Technology Used

Any

Code Pointers

<div class="customize-menu " role="dialog" data-l10n-id="newtab-settings-dialog-label" aria-label="Settings">

Further Reference

• W3C WAI APG: Modal Dialog Example

Comment 1

[John Northup]

Attachment: Settings dialog open

Comment 2

[Ina Popescu, Desktop QA]

The Settings dialog element has role="dialog" and aria-label="Settings", but lacks aria-modal="true" as described by reporter. Marking as NEW.

Comment 3

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

Attachment: Settings dialog is opened on the HNT, while the page can still be scrolled and the underlying story card is being hovered

This section functions as a non-modal dialog, which, even given that the bug 2009172 applies (both modal and non-modal dialogs are expected to contain the keyboard focus), is supported by the interface that is allowing a mouse/touch user to continue interact with the page under the Settings dialog: user could scroll the page, hover and activate the controls that are appearing to be under the dialog. The main page content is not dimmed and is not inert.

If the UX team would decide to make the main HNT page content to be inert, this bug should be addressed.