Autocompletion popup not announced with VoiceOver in Safari

[muchktom]

Describe the issue

Description

When using VoiceOver with Safari, the CodeMirror autocompletion popup is not announced to the screen reader, even when focused. This makes the autocompletion feature inaccessible for VoiceOver users in Safari.

The behavior works as expected in Chrome (popup is announced properly), but Chrome is not the recommended browser for VoiceOver users. Safari is the primary browser for VoiceOver accessibility testing and usage.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Enable VoiceOver on macOS.
2. Visit the CodeMirror autocompletion demo: https://codemirror.net/examples/autocompletion/
3. Navigate to the first autocompletion example input field.
4. Trigger the autocompletion with Ctrl + Space (as suggested on the page).
5. Observe that in Safari the autocompletion popup appears visually, but VoiceOver does not announce it.

Expected Behavior

The autocompletion popup should be announced by VoiceOver when it appears and receives focus, including details about available suggestions.

Actual Behavior

The popup is rendered visually but not announced at all in Safari with VoiceOver enabled.

Environment

• Browser: Safari (latest stable version)
• Screen Reader: VoiceOver (macOS)
• **System Version: ** 13.7.5
• Demo: https://codemirror.net/examples/autocompletion/

Notes

• Works correctly in Chrome + VoiceOver.
• Accessibility support in Safari is critical, as it’s the primary browser for macOS screen reader users.

Browser and platform

No response

Reproduction link

No response

[marijnh]

It seems that in Safari 18.4, nothing is read, both in CodeMirror and in the w3 example. I think that's a Safari issue.

I just tried Safari 26.1 beta. There the options are read, when selected, but the completion box isn't announced in CodeMirror, though it is in the w3 example. I haven't figured out what is prompting that yet but I'll investigate.