Form fields added to a view in authoring allow the configuration of inline helper text which will appear directly below the field. Platform will generate the aria-describedby attribute on the field in the generated runtime markup, providing not only a visible association but also a programmatic association to the helper text for assistive technologies.

However, when it comes to Constellation's rich text editor fields (RTEs), the relationship between the field and helper text may not properly associate for assistive technologies such as screen readers. This has to do with the markup of the editable region of a rich text field.

In order to support the input and addition of rich text content - that being not only limited to just text but also links, formatting, styles, and images separate than that of the main page - the inner content of RTE fields is built using an <iframe> tag. iframes are essentially an HTML page embedded within another HTML page. It is considered a separate document, or container for DOM elements, than the main page itself.

Programmatic association in HTML is limited in the fact that references between elements must be contained within the same document. This means that labeling or description methods such as aria-labelledby, aria-describedby, and the for attribute on <label> tags will not be able to reference content through the barrier of an iframe. This is a known behavior of these attributes and label association method.

Alternative helper text

Should this limitation be a concern for your users, consider configuring Additional Info on the property itself as an alternative in authoring. This allows the addition of helper text through an associated help icon directly before the field.

The label of this icon references the label of the field it is configured on, ensuring that context is provided to users interacting with it.