A11y Playwright Testing

# Add axe-core to existing Playwright project
npm install -D @axe-core/playwright axe-core

// [ok] Semantic HTML - inherently accessible
await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Submit" }).click();

// [no] ARIA override - requires manual keyboard/focus handling
await page.locator('[role="button"]').click(); // Often a <div>

import AxeBuilder from "@axe-core/playwright";
import { test, expect } from "@playwright/test";

test("page has no WCAG 2.2 AA violations", async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("/");

  const results = await new AxeBuilder({ page })
    .withTags(["wcag2a", "wcag2aa", "wcag21a", "wcag21aa", "wcag22a", "wcag22aa"])
    .analyze();

  expect(results.violations).toEqual([]);
});

test("form component is accessible", async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("/contact");

  const results = await new AxeBuilder({ page })
    .include("#contact-form") // Scope to specific component
    .withTags(["wcag2a", "wcag2aa", "wcag21a", "wcag21aa", "wcag22a", "wcag22aa"])
    .analyze();

  expect(results.violations).toEqual([]);
});

test("form is keyboard navigable", async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("/login");

  // Tab to first field
  await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
  await expect(page.getByLabel("Email")).toBeFocused();

  // Tab to password
  await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
  await expect(page.getByLabel("Password")).toBeFocused();

  // Tab to submit button
  await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
  await expect(page.getByRole("button", { name: "Sign in" })).toBeFocused();

  // Submit with Enter
  await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/dashboard/);
});

test("dialog traps and returns focus", async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("/settings");
  const trigger = page.getByRole("button", { name: "Delete account" });

  // Open dialog
  await trigger.click();
  const dialog = page.getByRole("dialog");
  await expect(dialog).toBeVisible();

  // Focus should be inside dialog
  await expect(dialog.getByRole("button", { name: "Cancel" })).toBeFocused();

  // Tab should stay trapped in dialog
  await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
  await expect(dialog.getByRole("button", { name: "Confirm" })).toBeFocused();
  await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
  await expect(dialog.getByRole("button", { name: "Cancel" })).toBeFocused();

  // Escape closes and returns focus to trigger
  await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
  await expect(dialog).toBeHidden();
  await expect(trigger).toBeFocused();
});

test("skip link moves focus to main content", async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("/");

  // First Tab should focus skip link
  await page.keyboard.press("Tab");
  const skipLink = page.getByRole("link", { name: /skip to (main|content)/i });
  await expect(skipLink).toBeFocused();

  // Activating skip link moves focus to main
  await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
  await expect(page.locator('#main, [role="main"]').first()).toBeFocused();
});

// [no] Avoid: Global rule disable
new AxeBuilder({ page }).disableRules(["color-contrast"]);

// [ok] Better: Scoped exclusion with documentation
new AxeBuilder({ page })
  .exclude("#third-party-widget") // Known issue: JIRA-1234, fix by Q2
  .withTags(["wcag2a", "wcag2aa", "wcag21a", "wcag21aa", "wcag22a", "wcag22aa"])
  .analyze();