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From: Christine Hogenkamp
Date: Aug 1, 2025 1:00PM

Hi Steve,

In terms of proper HTML, the header tag should go on the outside and the
link would go inside. A link tag is by default an "inline" element like a
span tag compared to a header tag, which by default is a display:block
element. My understanding is that HTML5 is a bit more flexible about this
and most modern browsers are more forgiving of incorrect HTML, but there
may be assistive devices/tech that follows the rules of older HTML and
operate in a more strict fashion.

This may explain why you are experiencing some announcement issues.

*x*
*Christine Hogenkamp (She, Her)*
Front-end Developer & Accessibility Lead
Context Creative – a Mod Op company
416.972.1439 | contextcreative.com


On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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> 1. Weird bug in both JAWS and NVDA (maybe) (Steve Green)
> 2. Re: Weird bug in both JAWS and NVDA (maybe) (Steve Green)
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>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Steve Green < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2025 17:49:15 +0000
> Subject: [WebAIM] Weird bug in both JAWS and NVDA (maybe)
> I have been testing a website that contains some code that is nasty, but
> not strictly wrong as far as I can tell. Both JAWS and NVDA handle it in a
> way the developer would not have intended, and not only do they behave the
> same, but they do so with both Chrome and Firefox. I am told that Voiceover
> on macOS handles it differently, but I have not verified it and it's not
> particularly relevant. The code is very simple:
>
> <a href="#" aria-label="foo">
> <h3>bar</h3>
> </a>
>
> It's not obvious how you would expect a screen reader to announce this,
> but you would probably expect its announcements to include a link called
> "foo" and a heading called "bar". Or maybe a heading/link called "foo".
> Neither of these happen. JAWS and NVDA just announce a link called "foo"
> and nothing else. If the "aria-label" attribute is removed, they announce a
> heading/link called "bar", as you would expect.
>
> The accessibility tree shows that the <a> element has an accessible name
> of "foo" and that the heading contents are "bar". This looks correct to me
> and suggests that JAWS and NVDA are interpreting it incorrectly. But before
> I report the issue to both vendors I would be interested in the thoughts
> from this forum. Are the browsers doing something wrong? Is the correct
> behaviour ambiguous? Is the code invalid in a way I've missed?
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Steve Green < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2025 17:55:56 +0000
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Weird bug in both JAWS and NVDA (maybe)
> It's worth mentioning that the heading also does not appear in JAWS'
> Headings List and cannot be found using the screen reader's H or 3
> shortcuts.
>
> Steve
>