Use ARIA role 'link' for workspace rows on all layout widths by MelvinBot · Pull Request #85624 · Expensify/App

MelvinBot · 2026-03-18T09:09:33Z

Explanation of Change

On the Workspaces page in wide screen layout, VoiceOver announces workspace rows as "Entering" instead of "Link" because the ARIA role was set to 'row' (a structural container role) on wide layouts. Since clicking a workspace row navigates to the workspace settings page, it should always use role='link'.

This PR changes the PressableWithoutFeedback in WorkspacesListRow.tsx to always use CONST.ROLE.LINK instead of conditionally switching between CONST.ROLE.ROW (wide) and CONST.ROLE.LINK (narrow). It also removes the now-unnecessary role='cell' from child View elements since there is no longer a row parent.

Fixed Issues

$ #85618
PROPOSAL: #85618 (comment)

Tests

Open the app on a wide screen layout (desktop browser)
Navigate to the Workspaces page
Enable VoiceOver (or JAWS) and Tab to a workspace row
Verify the workspace row is announced as "Link" (not "Entering")
Click the workspace row and verify it navigates to the workspace settings page

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

N/A — This is a purely semantic ARIA role change with no network dependency.

QA Steps

Open https://staging.new.expensify.com on a wide screen layout in Chrome or Safari on Mac
Enable VoiceOver (Cmd+F5)
Navigate to the Workspaces page
Tab to a workspace row
Verify VoiceOver announces the workspace row as "Link" instead of "Entering"
Click the workspace row and verify navigation to workspace settings works

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

Screenshots/Videos

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Tested in Chrome with the web build. The Workspaces page renders correctly in wide layout, workspace rows are announced as links by screen readers, and clicking them navigates to workspace settings.

On wide desktop layout, the workspace row used role='row' which caused VoiceOver to announce 'Entering' instead of 'Link'. Since clicking the row navigates to workspace settings, role='link' is semantically correct. Also removes role='cell' from child Views since there is no longer a 'row' parent. Co-authored-by: Joel Davies <jjcoffee@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: Joel Davies <jjcoffee@users.noreply.github.com>

MelvinBot · 2026-03-18T09:11:55Z

Fixed the failing Prettier check: ran prettier on WorkspacesListRow.tsx to fix two JSX closing bracket formatting issues.

jjcoffee · 2026-03-18T09:23:50Z

@MelvinBot I see that you removed the role of each "cell", how will those now be announced? I'm wondering if the arrow button should be the one to have a link role rather than the row overall.

MelvinBot · 2026-03-18T09:25:55Z

Good question! Here's how the accessibility works with these changes:

How the content is announced: The parent PressableWithoutFeedback has the accessible prop set, which makes React Native treat it as a single accessibility node. This means the individual child View elements don't need their own roles — they're not independently focusable. Instead, the entire row is announced as one element using the comprehensive accessibilityLabel that's already constructed at line 191-199, which includes the workspace name, default status, owner name, and workspace type.

Why the row should keep role='link' rather than the arrow button: The arrow button already has accessible={false} (line 352), so it's deliberately hidden from the accessibility tree to avoid duplicate announcements. If we moved role='link' to the arrow button instead, screen readers wouldn't announce the row content at all — users would lose the workspace name, owner, and type information. Having the full row as role='link' is the correct pattern here because the entire row is a single clickable navigation target, and it matches common web/app patterns where list items that navigate are announced as links with their full content.

The previous role='row' + role='cell' structure was causing VoiceOver to announce "Entering" instead of "Link" on wide layouts, which was the original bug. With role='link' on the parent and no cell roles needed, the row is now correctly announced as a link with all its content on both narrow and wide layouts.

jjcoffee · 2026-03-18T10:32:12Z

@MelvinBot make this ready for review.

MelvinBot · 2026-03-18T10:33:36Z

Done — PR is now marked as ready for review.

melvin-bot · 2026-03-18T10:33:38Z

@jayeshmangwani Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

jjcoffee · 2026-03-18T10:54:46Z

Reviewer Checklist

I have verified the author checklist is complete (all boxes are checked off).
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- I verified the steps for local testing are in the Tests section
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- Android: HybridApp
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- iOS: HybridApp
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- I verified any copy / text shown in the product is localized by adding it to src/languages/* files and using the translation method
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- I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
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Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

android-app-regression-2026-03-19_15.04.13.mp4

Android: mWeb Chrome

android-chrome-regression-2026-03-19_15.09.22.mp4

iOS: HybridApp

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

desktop-chrome-regression-2026-03-19_14.33.09.mp4

jjcoffee · 2026-03-18T10:55:03Z

@jayeshmangwani Ignore the ping, this is a regression from my PR 🙏

jjcoffee

LGTM!

melvin-bot · 2026-03-19T14:10:06Z

We did not find an internal engineer to review this PR, trying to assign a random engineer to #85618 as well as to this PR... Please reach out for help on Slack if no one gets assigned!

joekaufmanexpensify · 2026-03-19T22:04:38Z

No product review needed

github-actions · 2026-03-20T22:38:53Z

🚧 @youssef-lr has triggered a test Expensify/App build. You can view the workflow run here.

github-actions · 2026-03-20T22:42:53Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #85624.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-adc5f4a-9be7b50-aa48244787d8863913559889813414fafa8ea867/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-adc5f4a-9be7b50-c2e4e52dd4c3b18d9aa456573fc568050ff894b6/index.html

Web 🕸️
https://85624.pr-testing.expensify.com

👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

OSBotify · 2026-03-20T22:45:59Z

✋ This PR was not deployed to staging yet because QA is ongoing. It will be automatically deployed to staging after the next production release.

OSBotify · 2026-03-23T09:51:21Z

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/youssef-lr in version: 9.3.42-0 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

Bundle Size Analysis (Sentry):

Android
iOS

OSBotify · 2026-03-24T11:47:04Z

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/grgia in version: 9.3.42-3 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

MelvinBot assigned jjcoffee Mar 18, 2026

MelvinBot requested a review from a team March 18, 2026 09:09

MelvinBot mentioned this pull request Mar 18, 2026

[Due for payment 2026-03-31] VoiceOver - Workspace row is announced as Entering instead of Link #85618

Open

7 tasks

Fix: run prettier on WorkspacesListRow.tsx

a4ecbeb

Co-authored-by: Joel Davies <jjcoffee@users.noreply.github.com>

MelvinBot marked this pull request as ready for review March 18, 2026 10:33

MelvinBot requested a review from a team as a code owner March 18, 2026 10:33

melvin-bot bot requested review from jayeshmangwani and joekaufmanexpensify and removed request for a team March 18, 2026 10:33

melvin-bot bot removed the request for review from a team March 18, 2026 10:33

jjcoffee approved these changes Mar 19, 2026

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melvin-bot bot requested a review from youssef-lr March 19, 2026 14:10

joekaufmanexpensify removed their request for review March 19, 2026 22:04

youssef-lr approved these changes Mar 20, 2026

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youssef-lr merged commit adc5f4a into main Mar 20, 2026
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youssef-lr deleted the claude-fixWorkspaceRowA11yRole branch March 20, 2026 22:38

OSBotify mentioned this pull request Mar 23, 2026

Deploy Checklist: New Expensify 2026-03-23 #86080

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jjcoffee mentioned this pull request Mar 23, 2026

Screen Reader: Many Pages: The control opens another page/URL but announces with a button role #76938

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MelvinBot commented Mar 18, 2026

Explanation of Change

Fixed Issues

Tests

Offline tests

QA Steps

PR Author Checklist

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