FormFieldGroup "disabled" renders disabled styles but does not disable child inputs (v11)

[sebastianchristopher]

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Background Information

Package Version(s):

• @instructure/ui v11.x
• @instructure/ui-themes v11.x
• @instructure/ui-form-field v11.x
• @instructure/ui-text-input v11.x
• @instructure/ui-text-area v11.x

Browser:

• Chrome (latest)

OS:

• macOS (latest)

Device:

• Desktop/Laptop

Component:

• FormFieldGroup

Describe the Bug

Setting disabled on <FormFieldGroup> applies disabled styling/ARIA to the group, but does not disable the child inputs. The nested TextInput/TextArea remain focusable and editable.

This seems to match the behaviour discussed in #117, which was closed without a linked fix, hence opening a new issue with a minimal repro on current versions.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Render a FormFieldGroup with disabled set.
2. Place a TextInput and TextArea inside FormField children.
3. Try focusing/typing in the inputs — they are still interactive.

https://codesandbox.io/p/sandbox/instui-form-field-group-lcdf5g

Expected Behavior

Either:

• FormFieldGroup disables known child inputs (propagates a disabled context), or
• Documentation clearly states that disabled is visual/ARIA-only and points to supported patterns (interaction="disabled"/disabled={true} per input, or wrapping with <fieldset disabled>).

Additional Information

Current Workaround(s):

Set interaction="disabled" and disabled="true" on each each TextInput/TextArearespectively, or: Wrap the group with a native

` so all real controls inside are disabled.

Products Affected:

Web applications using InstUI FormFieldGroup with group-level disabled expected to disable its children.

Are you willing to submit a PR to fix?

• [x] Yes, I'm willing to submit a PR

Requested Priority:

Normal

[HerrTopi]

Thanks for the detailed report!

For the time being, we will update the docs. Reason being that changing the behavior could be a breaking change (however unlikely it is) and we don't want that between major releases. We'll fix this in the next major release, v12