Issue Summary

The CSS marker text "[var(--ak-renderer-annotation-startmarker)] [var(--ak-renderer-annotation-endmarker)]" is unnecessarily announced to screen reader users.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open the Confluence Cloud Homepage.
2. From the Sidebar navigation, expand Spaces and open any space.
3. Open a page that contains inline comments.
4. Using a screen reader, navigate to the "Comment 1" inline comment button.
5. Observe that the screen reader announces the button label along with the CSS marker text.

Screen Recording

Inline Comment Issue

Actual Results

When screen reader users navigate to the inline comment buttons “Comment 1”, “Comment 2”, and “Comment 3”, the CSS marker text [var(--ak-renderer-annotation-startmarker)] [var(--ak-renderer-annotation-endmarker)] is announced along with the button label. This occurs because the accessible name of the button includes CSS-generated pseudo-content. As a result, screen reader users are exposed to unnecessary information.

Expected Results

The screen reader should announce only the button label, without any CSS marker text or other unnecessary content.

Apply the following changes:

• Replace <mark role="button"> with a native <button> element.
• Ensure CSS-generated pseudo-content (::before / ::after) used for annotation markers is not included in the accessible name computation of the inline comment control.
• Ensure accessible name is derived only from visible text.

Code Snippet:

This code example is intended only as a general illustration of how to address the violation and should not be considered a complete or production-ready solution. If you have any questions, please attach this ticket to a #help-accessibility request.

<button aria-expanded="false">
  Comment 1
</button>

Workaround

Currently there is no known workaround for this behavior. A workaround will be added here when available

Environment

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
macOS Tahoe 26.2
Operations - Windows11
Chrome - Version 144.0.7559.133 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Safari- Version 26.2
JAWS- Version 2023
NVDA- Version 2025.3.2
VoiceOver - Version Latest