32892 Add more aria labels to list tables th row headers by afercia · Pull Request #12683 · WordPress/wordpress-develop

afercia · 2026-07-24T14:40:09Z

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/32892

Adds aria-label attributes to more list table row headers, to provide cleaner names for screen reader users.
Corrects @since notation after changeset 62838.

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github-actions · 2026-07-24T14:40:21Z

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Props afercia, mukesh27, joedolson.

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github-actions · 2026-07-24T14:44:03Z

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Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR extends WP_List_Table accessibility support by adding per-row aria-label values for primary-column row headers across several admin list tables, and updates @since annotations to match current core versioning.

Changes:

Adds get_primary_column_aria_label() overrides to multiple list tables so row headers expose a cleaner accessible name (e.g., term name, email, username, attachment title).
Updates @since tags for the get_primary_column_aria_label() API to 7.1.0 in core list table code and in the Posts list table implementation.
Includes a small whitespace alignment fix in class-wp-posts-list-table.php.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-terms-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using the term name.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-privacy-data-removal-requests-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using requester email.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-privacy-data-export-requests-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using requester email.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php	Updates `@since` for the posts implementation and fixes minor whitespace.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-users-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using `user_login`.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using the site title via blog switching.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-media-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using the attachment title.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-list-table.php	Updates `@since` for the base `get_primary_column_aria_label()` API.
src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-links-list-table.php	Adds a primary-column aria-label provider using the link name.

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+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
+		switch_to_blog( $blog['blog_id'] );
+		$site_title = get_option( 'blogname' );
+		restore_current_blog();
+
+		return $site_title;
+	}


mukeshpanchal27 · 2026-07-24T16:52:12Z

 	 * to omit the attribute.
 	 *
-	 * @since 6.9.0
+	 * @since 7.1.0


Why this change needed?

Because of https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/62838?

This is new code in WP 7.1. I guess the notation was copied and pasted from other methods introduced in 6.9.

Yes, that was just overlooked.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php:901

get_primary_column_aria_label() currently fetches the site title via get_blog_option( ..., 'blogname' ), which (a) can add an extra per-row blog option lookup, and (b) does not match what the primary blogname column actually displays (the site URL/domain+path). For the row header aria-label, returning the same URL string used in column_blogname() avoids the extra lookup and keeps the accessible name aligned with the visible primary identifier.

	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
		return get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' );
	}

joedolson

A couple of these names can return HTML, and should be cleaned up before use.

joedolson · 2026-07-24T23:01:34Z

+	 * @return string The attachment title.
+	 */
+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $post ) {
+		return _draft_or_post_title( $post );


_draft_or_post_title() can return escaped HTML, either inserted from the the_title filter or directly written into the post_title field. So this probably needs to reverse the escaping then strip HTML before use.

joedolson · 2026-07-24T23:06:24Z

+	 * @return string The Site title.
+	 */
+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
+		return get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' );


The blogname can also contain HTML, but would not be expected to be escaped. Can probably just use wp_strip_all_tags() here.

Interestingly, as far as I can tell the value get stored in the database already escaped. So that it may be something like My <div>books. We need to first decode the HTML entities and then strip the HTML. I observed there are a few cases of this pattern in the Customizer and in the REST API.

mukeshpanchal27 · 2026-07-25T03:37:22Z

 					esc_html( sprintf( __( 'Child of %s' ), wp_strip_all_tags( $parent_title ) ) )
 				);
-				$hierarchy_nolink  = sprintf(
+				$hierarchy_nolink = sprintf(


Revert this as it need two spaces

That only applies to consecutive lines, which is not the case here.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php:903

get_blog_option() switches blogs internally (via switch_to_blog()), so calling it here introduces an extra blog context switch per row. It also makes the row header’s accessible name differ from the visible primary-column content (URL). Consider using the already-available site URL (domain + path) as the clean aria-label instead, and update the docblock accordingly.

	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
		$blog_name = html_entity_decode( get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), ENT_QUOTES, get_bloginfo( 'charset' ) );
		$blog_name = wp_strip_all_tags( $blog_name );

		return $blog_name;

+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $post ) {
+		$attachment_title = $post->post_title ?? '';
+
+		if ( ! empty( $attachment_title ) ) {
+			// The title may contain HTML. The printed aria-label uses esc_attr() later.
+			$attachment_title = wp_strip_all_tags( $attachment_title );
+		}
+
+		return $attachment_title;
+	}


afercia · 2026-07-26T17:28:29Z

+	 * @return string The User login.
+	 */
+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $user ) {
+		return $user->user_login;


I believe usernames cannot be created with illegal characters so they can't contain HTML.

afercia · 2026-07-26T17:32:02Z

+	 * @return string The term name.
+	 */
+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $tag ) {
+		return $tag->name;


I believe term names cannot be created with illegal characters so they can't contain HTM. It is stripped out during the term name creation.

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (2)

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php:903

get_primary_column_aria_label() uses get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), which will trigger an options lookup per row in the Sites list table. On large multisite networks this can introduce an N+1 performance regression during table rendering. The primary column is labeled “URL” and the URL is already available in the $blog array, so the aria-label can be derived without extra queries.

	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
		$blog_name = html_entity_decode( get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), ENT_QUOTES, get_bloginfo( 'charset' ) );
		$blog_name = wp_strip_all_tags( $blog_name );

		return $blog_name;

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-media-list-table.php:955

This returns an empty string for untitled attachments, which causes the aria-label to be omitted and screen readers to fall back to the full cell content (including row actions). It also returns raw $post->post_title without the same “(no title)” fallback used elsewhere in WP admin list tables.

	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $post ) {
		$attachment_title = $post->post_title ?? '';

		if ( ! empty( $attachment_title ) ) {
			// The title may contain HTML. The printed aria-label uses esc_attr() later.
			$attachment_title = wp_strip_all_tags( $attachment_title );
		}

		return $attachment_title;

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php:903

get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ) triggers switch_to_blog() for every rendered row, which can noticeably slow down the Sites list table (especially for large networks). Since a concise label is the goal, consider using the already-available URL (domain+path) for the aria-label to avoid per-row blog context switches during rendering.

		$blog_name = html_entity_decode( get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), ENT_QUOTES, get_bloginfo( 'charset' ) );
		$blog_name = wp_strip_all_tags( $blog_name );

		return $blog_name;

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

afercia · 2026-07-26T20:17:27Z

+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
+		$blog_name = html_entity_decode( get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), ENT_QUOTES, get_bloginfo( 'charset' ) );
+		$blog_name = wp_strip_all_tags( $blog_name );
+
+		return $blog_name;
+	}


Interesting. To my understanding, the blog name is required when creating a site (it's the blog title field) but then it can be manually emptied after the site creation, thus leaving a blog without a blogname. I think this surfaces a bug that should be addressed separately,

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php:903

This uses get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), which calls switch_to_blog() internally (see wp-includes/ms-blogs.php:get_blog_option()), adding a blog switch for every row. In non-list mode, column_blogname() already switches blogs, so this doubles the switching work per row. Consider using the already-available URL (domain + path) as the aria-label to avoid the extra switching overhead.

	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {
		$blog_name = html_entity_decode( get_blog_option( $blog['blog_id'], 'blogname' ), ENT_QUOTES, get_bloginfo( 'charset' ) );
		$blog_name = wp_strip_all_tags( $blog_name );

		// Fall back to the blog URL and path if the blog name is empty.

afercia · 2026-07-26T20:35:34Z

+	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $tag ) {
+		return $tag->name;
+	}


As far as I can tell, this is not needed because HTML is stripped out when creating a term name.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php:1136

In get_primary_column_aria_label(), the fallback string uses a new translatable __( 'no title' ) that is inconsistent with core’s existing untitled-post string __( '(no title)' ) (see _draft_or_post_title() in wp-admin/includes/template.php). Reusing the existing string avoids duplicate translations and keeps UI/ARIA wording consistent.

	 * @since 7.1.0
	 *
	 * @param WP_Post $item The current post object.
	 * @return string The post title, or 'no title' if no title.
	 */

+	 * @since 7.1.0
+	 *
+	 * @param WP_User $user The current WP_User object.
+	 * @return string The User login.


+	/**
+	 * Returns a clean label for the primary (URL) column's row header `aria-label`.
+	 *
+	 * Provides screen readers with just the Site Title as the row header name,
+	 * preventing them from computing the name from the full cell content.
+	 *
+	 * @since 7.1.0
+	 *
+	 * @param array $blog The current site properties array.
+	 * @return string The Site title.
+	 */


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Comment thread src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php

Comment on lines +899 to +905

protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $blog ) {

switch_to_blog( $blog['blog_id'] );

$site_title = get_option( 'blogname' );

restore_current_blog();

return $site_title;

}

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afercia added 7 commits July 26, 2026 20:09

Add aria-label to more list table row headers.

b2d686a

Correct since notation after changeset 62838.

749712f

Avoid switch_to_blog.

784f0d3

Strip any potential HTML from attachment title.

24afd05

Strip any potential HTML from blog title.

d7baea1

Strip any potential HTML from link name.

75c732c

Add back fallback for attachment title.

6048ca5

afercia force-pushed the 32892-more-aria-labels-list-tables-th branch from e18e584 to 6048ca5 Compare July 26, 2026 18:09

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Add blog name fallback,

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afercia commented Jul 24, 2026

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github-actions Bot commented Jul 24, 2026 •

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