Helpful context

Slack thread that kicked this off
A11y Office Hours recording and recap
A11y Office Hours notes

Demo

Before

After

Changelog

New

Changed

• Instead of relying on parent component checks (e.g. “is this ActionList wrapped in an ActionMenu or SelectPanel?”) to decide between a tooltip or inline inactive message, we now check the role on ActionList.
  • If role is "menu" or "listbox", the inactive message is rendered inline (e.g. in ActionMenu or SelectPanel)
  • Otherwise, the message is shown in a tooltip
• This role-based logic fixes inactive NavList item behavior:
  • Now shows the message in a tooltip instead of inline
• This role-based logic fixes inactive SelectPanel item behavior:
  • Now shows the message inline instead of in a tooltip
  • Important note: Inactive text only works in SelectPanel items when using the modern ActionList. The deprecated ActionList does not support inactive items.
• Uses the same role-based logic to determine whether ActionList.TrailingAction is allowed inside an item
  • Previously, we relied on parent component checks to block nesting interactive elements
  • This change is unrelated to inactive states, but it's a more robust way to prevent interactive conflicts
• Updates aria-describedby and aria-labelledby associations for tooltip buttons on inactive items:
  • Before: aria-describedby → item label ("Item 1"), aria-labelledby → inactive message ("Unavailable due to an outage")
  • After: aria-labelledby → item label, aria-describedby → inactive message

Removed

Rollout strategy

• Patch release
• Minor release
• Major release; if selected, include a written rollout or migration plan
• None; if selected, include a brief description as to why

Testing & Reviewing

Merge checklist

• Added/updated tests
• Added/updated documentation
• Added/updated previews (Storybook)
• [unsure] Changes are SSR compatible
• Tested in Chrome
• Tested in Firefox
• Tested in Safari
• Tested in Edge
• (GitHub staff only) Integration tests pass at github/github (Learn more about how to run integration tests)