FormControlRange - Live ranges for <input> and <textarea>

[stephanieyzhang]

WebKittens

@annevk

Title of the proposal

FormControlRange: live ranges for <input> and <textarea>

URL to the spec

whatwg/dom#1404

URL to the spec's repository

No response

Issue Tracker URL

whatwg/html#11478

Explainer URL

https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/main/FormControlRange/explainer.md

TAG Design Review URL

w3ctag/design-reviews#1142

Mozilla standards-positions issue URL

mozilla/standards-positions#1289

WebKit Bugzilla URL

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=299375

Radar URL

No response

Description

Currently, web developers can’t perform range-based operations (e.g., getting bounding rects, setting custom highlights) inside native text controls (<input>, <textarea>). As a result, they often resort to workarounds such as replicating the control and its styles in a contenteditable container and reimplementing input behavior -- an approach that’s tedious and error-prone to keep in sync with native behavior.

FormControlRange is a specialized, live AbstractRange subclass scoped to input/textarea value space. It enables those operations directly in native controls while restricting standard Range mutations to preserve encapsulation. It integrates cleanly with existing selection/editing behavior and closes a long-standing gap for form controls.

[stephanieyzhang]

@annevk Just following up on this position request for FormControlRange. Would you be able to take a look or point me to the right person? Thanks!