Consider simply hiding the DatePicker overlay from ATs?

[rolfsmeds]

What is the problem?

There are numerous a11y issues with the DatePicker's overlay when used with screen readers.

Perhaps it would be better to simply hide the overlay from assistive technologies altogether and just provide text-input for them instead?

The benefits of a calendar-based datepicker are obvious:

• Helps the user pick "unknown" dates based on weekdays and week number
• Relieves the user of entering dates in the correct format(s)

However, these benefits are lost to screen reader users if the calendar picker is not sufficiently usable. Thus a text-input-only date field might provide a better average net UX.

Browsers

• [ ] Chrome
• [ ] Firefox
• [ ] Safari
• [ ] Safari on iOS
• [ ] Edge

Screen Readers

• [ ] None
• [ ] NVDA
• [ ] JAWS
• [ ] VoiceOver on MacOS
• [ ] VoiceOver on iOS

[web-padawan]

We have significantly improved a11y with implementing proper keyboard navigation for date elements. If we now try to make these elements hidden from screen readers, this might break them even more.

Let's try to fix actual issues as we discover them, and only consider this option as a last resort.

[web-padawan]

Closing as won't fix. We now have fixed #4314 by #5627 so this idea isn't relevant anymore.