Gradle Build Scan UI Accessibility vs IDE Tool Window Interoperability

Answer

Gradle cannot guarantee that Build Scan table cells are announced correctly by screen readers when shown inside an IDE tool window, and console output must provide Build Scan URLs as focusable links with appropriate ARIA attributes to support keyboard navigation.

Likely explanation

The Build Scan HTML is generated server‑side and typically relies on standard table semantics; explicit ARIA roles such as role="row" or role="cell" are not added by default. IDE tool windows embed the Build Scan page in a web view, and the accessibility tree presented to screen readers depends on how that web view exposes the DOM. Without ARIA markup, screen readers may read each cell as plain text without row/column context, leading to inconsistent announcements across Gradle 7.x and 8.x.

Confirmed facts (research)

1. The HTML source of Build Scan tables usually lacks explicit aria-rowindex, aria-cellindex, or role attributes, relying on native table parsing.
2. IDE implementations vary; some web view components strip or fail to emit accessibility attributes, causing unpredictable screen reader behavior.
3. Console output presents Build Scan URLs as plain text strings, which are not focusable and have no accessible name, limiting keyboard navigation and screen reader link identification.

Steps needed for verification

1. Open a Build Scan page in the IDE tool window and inspect the rendered HTML for ARIA attributes on table elements.
2. Run a screen reader (e.g., NVDA or VoiceOver) on the same page and verify whether cells are announced as structured rows or as flat text.
3. In the console, locate the Build Scan URL, press Tab to move focus, and confirm it receives focus and an accessible name; if not, treat it as plain text.

Missing diagnostic detail

Please specify which IDE tool window component (e.g., IntelliJ IDEA’s embedded browser, VS Code’s web view, or another) is used to display Build Scan, as the accessibility bridge may differ and affect the outcome.