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aria-live on Text Is Not Announced on Android

Text accepts aria-live in its types, but in React Native 0.88 it does not convert it to accessibilityLiveRegion, as View does. A counter in <Text aria-live="polite"> is never announced by TalkBack; the same counter with accessibilityLiveRegion="polite" is announced on every change.

  • Checked: 21 October 2026
  • Versions: React Native 0.88.0, Expo SDK 58 (development build)
  • Devices: Samsung phone (SM-A276B), Android 16, TalkBack
  • Upstream: react/react-native#59330: merged into main

How It Was Checked​

The announcements case of Memo Lab: counters in live regions, each changed by its own button; activate a button and wait for the announcement.

<>
  {/* A: silent */}
  <Text aria-live="polite">Cart A: {countA} items</Text>
  {/* B: announced on every change */}
  <Text accessibilityLiveRegion="polite">Cart B: {countB} items</Text>
</>

Result​

  • A is never announced, B is.
  • The cause: Text passes aria-live to the native side under that name, and the native side reads only accessibilityLiveRegion.
  • Not affected: iOS, which has no live regions; there the app posts an announcement with AccessibilityInfo.announceForAccessibility.

Upstream​

react/react-native#59330 maps aria-live to accessibilityLiveRegion in Text. It was merged into main on 22 October 2026, after the 0.88 branch was cut; on 27 October 2026 it is not in a release (0.88.1 does not include it).