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GeezerVison is showing github.com — a11y: make the sidebar button a `<button>` by hugovk · Pull Request #14326 · sphinx-doc/sphinx

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@hugovk

@hugovk hugovk commented Feb 28, 2026

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Purpose

The sidebar button should be a semantic <button> and not a <div>.

This is needed for accessibility via keyboard and assistive technology.

For example, try this before and after this fix:

cd tests/roots/test-tocdepth
rm -rf _build
python -m sphinx -b html -D html_theme=classic -D html_theme_options.collapsiblesidebar=true . _build/html
open _build/html/index.html

Then press tab repeatedly.

Before, the <div> "button" can not be selected: _build-master.zip

After, the real <button> can be selected, and you can press space to open and close the side menu: _build-fixed.zip

References

  • https://theadminbar.com/accessibility-weekly/divs-are-not-buttons/
  • The element div#sidebar requires the attribute role="button" python/python-docs-theme#248

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@hugovk
a11y: make the sidebar button a <button>
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@hugovk hugovk mentioned this pull request Feb 28, 2026
The element div#sidebar requires the attribute role="button" python/python-docs-theme#248
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@hugovk

hugovk commented Feb 28, 2026 •
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The ty and 3.15 failures are unrelated and also occur in main master.
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gastmaier
gastmaier approved these changes Mar 4, 2026
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Welcome change, useful for both keyboard savvys and people with disabilities :)

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timhoffm
timhoffm reviewed Mar 6, 2026
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This is fundamentally reasonable. However, it is a breaking change for downstream templates.

This will beak users who have styled the button with a div#sidebarbutton CSS filter, e.g. https://github.com/search?q=div%23sidebarbutton+language%3ACSS+NOT+is%3Afork&type=code

This needs a prominent change note and advice to change the style filter to #sidebarbutton.

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@hugovk
Add to changelog
b80109e
@hugovk

hugovk commented Mar 6, 2026

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Added!

I put 9.2.0 as the version, but I don't mind if this needs a major bump. Some other semantic improvements have been done as bug fixes: #13689.
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timhoffm
timhoffm approved these changes Mar 6, 2026
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themavik
themavik reviewed Mar 23, 2026
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nit: add type="button" on #sidebarbutton so it does not default to submit if this block ever sits inside a <form>.

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hugovk
hugovk commented Mar 23, 2026
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Comment thread sphinx/themes/classic/layout.html Resolved

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@hugovk
Add type="button"
f087e3b
@jdillard jdillard added the accessibility label Jun 9, 2026
m-aciek
m-aciek approved these changes Sep 10, 2026
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@hugovk
Merge branch 'master' into sidebar-button
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@hugovk

hugovk commented Sep 10, 2026

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CI failures are unrelated and are fixed by #14611, which is approved and awaiting merge.
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@AA-Turner
AA-Turner force-pushed the master branch from da711b6 to 7cae411 Compare October 20, 2026 00:17

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@timhoffm timhoffm timhoffm approved these changes
+3 more reviewers
@themavik themavik themavik left review comments
@gastmaier gastmaier gastmaier approved these changes
@m-aciek m-aciek m-aciek approved these changes
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6 participants

@hugovk @timhoffm @gastmaier @m-aciek @themavik @jdillard
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