Add semantics role for form by hannah-hyj · Pull Request #170709 · flutter/flutter

hannah-hyj · 2025-06-16T22:53:44Z

Pre-launch Checklist

I read the Contributor Guide and followed the process outlined there for submitting PRs.
I read the Tree Hygiene wiki page, which explains my responsibilities.
I read and followed the Flutter Style Guide, including Features we expect every widget to implement.
I signed the CLA.
I listed at least one issue that this PR fixes in the description above.
I updated/added relevant documentation (doc comments with ///).
I added new tests to check the change I am making, or this PR is test-exempt.
I followed the breaking change policy and added Data Driven Fixes where supported.
All existing and new tests are passing.

If you need help, consider asking for advice on the #hackers-new channel on Discord.

chunhtai · 2025-06-17T18:32:08Z

-      onWillPop: widget.onWillPop,
-      child: _FormScope(formState: this, generation: _generation, child: widget.child),
-    );
+    return Semantics(role: SemanticsRole.form, child: form);


This may need container: true so that it won't merge up and accidentally get other children to be included in the form

e.g something like this may break without the container:true here

Semantics(container:true, child: Column( children: [Semantics(container: true, child: Text('1')), Form(...)] ))

you will se that text('1') somehow become a child in the form in the semantics tree

chunhtai · 2025-06-17T18:36:07Z

+        semanticsObject,
+        preferredLabelRepresentation: LabelRepresentation.ariaLabel,
+      ) {
+    setAriaRole('form');


I vaguely remember web use the <form> tag to denote a form, and it is already used somewhere but for other purpose, cc @mdebbar , can you take a look to see if this is ok

I tested using VoiceOver on mac and it does work using ariaRole.

however, https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/Reference/Roles/form_role also has a warning "Warning: Use an HTML <form> element to contain your form controls, rather than the ARIA form role, unless you have a very good reason. The HTML <form> element is sufficient to tell assistive technologies that there is a form."

@mdebbar do we need to use the form tag or an ariaRole is good enough, wdyt?

"Warning: Use an HTML <form> element to contain your form controls, rather than the ARIA form role, unless you have a very good reason. The HTML <form> element is sufficient to tell assistive technologies that there is a form."

Do we have a "very good reason" to not use the <form> element? 🙂

In the SemanticForm class you could override the createElement method to make it return a <form> element instead of the default. Example:

flutter/engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/link.dart

Lines 19 to 24 in 12e4a89

@override

DomElement createElement() {

final DomElement element = domDocument.createElement('a');

element.style.display = 'block';

return element;

}

I vaguely remember web use the <form> tag to denote a form, and it is already used somewhere but for other purpose, cc @mdebbar , can you take a look to see if this is ok

We do use a form for autofill. But AFAICT, that behavior is disabled when semantics are on:

flutter/engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/text_field.dart

Line 168 in 12e4a89

void placeForm() {}

Thank you! updated to use the <form> element !

mdebbar · 2025-06-24T17:49:21Z

+        semanticsObject,
+        preferredLabelRepresentation: LabelRepresentation.ariaLabel,
+      ) {
+    setAriaRole('form');


"Warning: Use an HTML <form> element to contain your form controls, rather than the ARIA form role, unless you have a very good reason. The HTML <form> element is sufficient to tell assistive technologies that there is a form."

Do we have a "very good reason" to not use the <form> element? 🙂

In the SemanticForm class you could override the createElement method to make it return a <form> element instead of the default. Example:

flutter/engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/link.dart

Lines 19 to 24 in 12e4a89

@override

DomElement createElement() {

final DomElement element = domDocument.createElement('a');

element.style.display = 'block';

return element;

}

I vaguely remember web use the <form> tag to denote a form, and it is already used somewhere but for other purpose, cc @mdebbar , can you take a look to see if this is ok

We do use a form for autofill. But AFAICT, that behavior is disabled when semantics are on:

flutter/engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/text_field.dart

Line 168 in 12e4a89

void placeForm() {}

mdebbar · 2025-06-24T17:55:04Z

  semantics().semanticsEnabled = false;
 }

+void _testForms() {


It would be nice to also have a test for this in _testSemanticRole above. Something that checks for:

tester.expectSemantics(''' <sem id="flt-semantic-node-0"> <form id="flt-semantic-node-1"> <sem id="flt-semantic-node-2"> <input /> </sem> </form> </sem>''');

updated tests, thanks!

mdebbar

LGTM if the framework changes LGT @chunhtai

chunhtai

LGTM

Update semantics_test.dart Update licenses_flutter Update packages/flutter/lib/src/widgets/form.dart Update form.dart Update engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/form.dart Update engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/form.dart Update form.dart Update form.dart add tests lint Add form role Co-Authored-By: chunhtai <47866232+chunhtai@users.noreply.github.com> Co-Authored-By: Mouad Debbar <mouad.debbar@gmail.com>

fix: [flutter#161628](flutter#161628) ## Pre-launch Checklist - [ ] I read the [Contributor Guide] and followed the process outlined there for submitting PRs. - [ ] I read the [Tree Hygiene] wiki page, which explains my responsibilities. - [ ] I read and followed the [Flutter Style Guide], including [Features we expect every widget to implement]. - [ ] I signed the [CLA]. - [ ] I listed at least one issue that this PR fixes in the description above. - [ ] I updated/added relevant documentation (doc comments with `///`). - [ ] I added new tests to check the change I am making, or this PR is [test-exempt]. - [ ] I followed the [breaking change policy] and added [Data Driven Fixes] where supported. - [ ] All existing and new tests are passing. If you need help, consider asking for advice on the #hackers-new channel on [Discord].  [Contributor Guide]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Tree-hygiene.md#overview [Tree Hygiene]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Tree-hygiene.md [test-exempt]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Tree-hygiene.md#tests [Flutter Style Guide]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo.md [Features we expect every widget to implement]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo.md#features-we-expect-every-widget-to-implement [CLA]: https://cla.developers.google.com/ [flutter/tests]: https://github.com/flutter/tests [breaking change policy]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Tree-hygiene.md#handling-breaking-changes [Discord]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Chat.md [Data Driven Fixes]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/main/docs/contributing/Data-driven-Fixes.md Co-authored-by: chunhtai <47866232+chunhtai@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Mouad Debbar <mouad.debbar@gmail.com>

hannah-hyj requested a review from chunhtai June 16, 2025 22:53

github-actions Bot added framework flutter/packages/flutter repository. See also f: labels. engine flutter/engine related. See also e: labels. a: accessibility Accessibility, e.g. VoiceOver or TalkBack. (aka a11y) platform-web Web applications specifically labels Jun 16, 2025

chunhtai reviewed Jun 17, 2025

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hannah-hyj requested a review from mdebbar June 23, 2025 18:03

mdebbar reviewed Jun 24, 2025

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hannah-hyj requested review from chunhtai and mdebbar June 25, 2025 20:28

hannah-hyj force-pushed the formrole branch from 0d65d68 to 0562c0f Compare June 25, 2025 20:30

mdebbar approved these changes Jun 25, 2025

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Comment thread engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/form.dart Outdated

Comment thread engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/semantics/form.dart Outdated

hannah-hyj force-pushed the formrole branch from 9508a9e to 50a7331 Compare June 26, 2025 20:18

chunhtai approved these changes Jun 30, 2025

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Comment thread packages/flutter/lib/src/widgets/form.dart Outdated

hannah-hyj force-pushed the formrole branch from 32b0b7c to 313c351 Compare June 30, 2025 20:45

hannah-hyj force-pushed the formrole branch from 6be3d4a to 395d91b Compare July 4, 2025 05:29

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Add semantics role for form - #170709

Add semantics role for form#170709
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hannah-hyj commented Jun 16, 2025

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hannah-hyj Jun 23, 2025 •

edited by mdebbar

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	@override
	DomElement createElement() {
	final DomElement element = domDocument.createElement('a');
	element.style.display = 'block';
	return element;
	}

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hannah-hyj commented Jun 16, 2025

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hannah-hyj Jun 23, 2025 • edited by mdebbar Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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hannah-hyj Jun 23, 2025 •

edited by mdebbar

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