Pattern
Tab stops hidden from screen readers
Controls hidden by aria-hidden still take keyboard focus. Someone tabbing through the page with a screen reader lands on a control the page told it to ignore.
6 findings at 5 companies in 2 sectors, filed under 1 heuristic
Where I found it
Apple Medium
Hidden controls that still take keyboard focus
On Services at 820 and 390 px, and AirPods at 390 px, the arrow buttons that scroll the navigation strip have aria-hidden="true" but stay focusable. On Services at 820 px the 16th Tab press lands on one. On Apple HomeView at 390 px, 14 of the first 34 Tab stops land on product viewer controls that are aria-hidden and transparent. axe finds the same fault on 8 pages.
Tablet, 820 px wide, taken 30 October 2026. The frame marks what the finding is about. Chase Medium
Hidden carousel slides on product pages still hold focusable links
The article carousel on Chase Total Checking marks slides 2 and 3 aria-hidden="true" at 390 px while their links stay focusable. Investing and Online investing do the same, and axe aria-hidden-focus (WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2, level A) fails on all 3 pages. The image links are named from alt text misspelt 'Reard more about…'.
Phone, 390 px wide, taken 30 October 2026. The frame marks what the finding is about. Google Medium
On the Chrome page, visible controls are hidden from screen readers and take focus
The bar at the top of google.com/chrome (Fast, AI, Safe, Yours, By Google, Download) has aria-hidden="true" while it’s shown, and Tab still lands on its Download button. Tab also reached ‘Pause animation’, ‘Play animation’ and ‘Play’ inside aria-hidden. The video poster’s attribute is misspelt aria_hidden, so it’s an image with no alt text.
Desktop, 1440 px wide, taken 30 October 2026. The frame marks what the finding is about. Google Medium
On phones and tablets, the product list hides 108 of 120 entries from screen readers
At 390 and 820 px about.google/products shows all 120 product cards, and 108 of them carry aria-hidden="true", from ‘Android Auto’ on. Their links stay in the Tab order. At 1440 px those 108 have no height, so the attribute matches the screen only there.
Phone, 390 px wide, taken 30 October 2026. The frame marks what the finding is about. Microsoft Medium
Hidden Game Pass plan cards keep a focusable link at 820 and 390 px
At 820 and 390 px the Game Pass plan carousel sets aria-hidden 'true' on 3 cards (ids 'standard', 'ultimate' and 'pc'), and each keeps a footnote link, '1, jump down to the legal section', in the Tab order. axe reports aria-hidden-focus on all 3. At 390 px, Tabs 37, 38 and 39 land on those links.
Phone, 390 px wide, taken 30 October 2026. The frame marks what the finding is about. TD Medium
Closed FAQ answers on the GIC rates page still take keyboard focus
At 390 px a closed FAQ answer is 0 px tall and aria-hidden, but not inert. On GIC rates, Tab reaches the 'GIC selector tool' link inside the closed answer to 'How do I choose the right GIC for me?'. axe reports aria-hidden-focus for the same accordion on 14 of the 41 pages, including the fee schedule, the TFSA page and the card detail page.
Phone, 390 px wide, taken 30 October 2026. The frame marks what the finding is about.
What I’d change
Remove aria-hidden from any control that’s shown, and name it if it has no name. Make anything that isn’t shown inert, or take it out of the Tab order, until it appears.