How to fix aria hidden focus on Webflow

Steps for Webflow

1. Open your Webflow project in the Designer. Select the element flagged as aria-hidden (use the Navigator panel to locate it in the DOM tree).
2. In the Element Settings panel (the gear icon), scroll to the Custom Attributes section. If aria-hidden='true' is set there and the element contains interactive children, either remove the aria-hidden attribute or also set tabindex='-1' on each focusable child element the same way.
3. For Navbar dropdowns, off-canvas menus, and modals built with Webflow Interactions: open the Interaction that hides/shows the panel and add a custom code step (or use the 'Set attribute' action if available) to toggle aria-hidden and tabindex='-1' together as the interaction plays.
4. For finer control, add a <script> tag via Project Settings → Custom Code → Footer Code to handle the open/close logic in JavaScript (see code snippet below).
5. Publish the project and re-run axe DevTools or Lighthouse to verify.

What is aria hidden focus?

The `aria-hidden="true"` attribute tells screen readers to completely ignore an element and everything inside it — as if it doesn't exist. The problem arises when a focusable element (a button, link, or form field) lives inside that hidden container. Keyboard users can still tab into it, but screen-reader users hear nothing because the element has been silenced. This creates a "ghost focus" trap: the keyboard cursor lands on something invisible to assistive technology with no announcement, no label, and no way to understand what it does. WCAG Success Criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value) requires that all interactive UI components expose their name and role to assistive technology.

Screen-reader users — who are often blind or have low vision — can get stuck on focusable elements that their software cannot describe, making parts of your store completely unusable for them. This is a direct WCAG 2.1 Level A violation, the most severe tier, meaning it fails the baseline legal accessibility standard referenced in regulations like the ADA (US), EN 301 549 (EU), and the European Accessibility Act. Beyond legal risk, stores with accessibility barriers lose customers: roughly 1 in 4 adults has some disability, and inaccessible checkout flows directly reduce conversions. Automated accessibility tools (axe, Lighthouse, WAVE) flag this as a critical failure, which can surface in legal demand letters and audits.

See the complete Aria hidden focus guide for every platform and the full background.