a11y.empty interactive

a11y.empty-interactive

Rule ID: a11y.empty-interactive Severity: ERROR Category: a11y Target Standards: W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 SC 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value), W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 SC 2.4.4 (Link Purpose in Context), W3C Accessible Name and Description Computation (AccName) 1.2

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1. Overview & Core Invariant

Enforces accessible names on interactive elements (buttons, links) containing only icons or visual elements

Core Invariant:

"Interactive controls (, , role="button") must provide an accessible name via text content, aria-label, aria-labelledby, or title."

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2. Technical Grounding & Engine Realities

Modern UI designs frequently employ icon-only buttons (such as trash cans for delete, pencils for edit, or magnifying glasses for search) without visible text labels.

When developers render icon components (e.g. Lucide, Heroicons, or native ) inside or without aria-label:

1. Unnamed Interactive Elements: Assistive technologies announce "button" or "link" with zero information about the control's purpose or action.
2. Linter Bypass: Conventional linters often pass these elements because the JSX tree contains child elements (), failing to realize that rendered SVGs produce no accessible text.
3. Severe Navigation Barrier: Blind or low-vision users cannot determine which action each button executes without activating it.

Charites inspects interactive controls to ensure icon-only elements supply an accessible name.

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3. Vulnerability & Risk Taxonomy

Risk Vector	Severity	Impact
Blank Interactive Control	HIGH	Screen readers announce an unlabelled button or link without stating its action.
Inaccessible Voice Navigation	MEDIUM	Voice control software cannot target or activate the unlabelled control.

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4. Non-Compliant Code Patterns (Bad Examples)

TSX (Icon-only button without accessible name):

<button onClick={handleDelete} className="size-11 flex items-center justify-center">
  <TrashIcon className="size-5 text-destructive" />
</button>

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5. Compliant Implementation Patterns (Good Examples)

TSX (Icon-only button with explicit aria-label):

<button type="button" onClick={handleDelete} aria-label="Hapus dokumen ini" className="size-11 flex items-center justify-center">
  <TrashIcon className="size-5 text-destructive" />
</button>

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6. How to Suppress (Ignore Directives)

If this pattern is required for an intentional exception, suppress the diagnostic using the canonical Charites Rule ID:

<!-- charites:ignore a11y.empty-interactive intentional exception -->

// charites:ignore a11y.empty-interactive intentional exception

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7. Configuration Reference (charites.yaml)

rules:
  a11y.empty-interactive:
    severity: error # error | warn | info | off

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8. Architectural Domain & Verification Reference

• Domain Architecture & Analysis Pipeline: See the a11y Category Guide.
• 1-SSOT Golden Tri-Corpus Test Matrix: See the Verification Harness on the Master Home page.
• Rule Catalog Index: See Master Wiki Home.