(Stepper Header): Screen reader is not announcing label name for section present under stepper variants in Windows.

[msftedad]

Is this a regression?

• Yes, this behavior used to work in the previous version

The previous version in which this bug was not present was

No response

Description

User Impact:
Visually impaired users who rely on screen readers will be impacted if Screen reader is not announcing label name for section present under stepper variants in Windows. They won’t know which section they are in, leading to confusion and difficulty completing tasks.

Reproduction

1. Enable NVDA and open the URL: https://material.angular.dev/components/stepper/overview in edge browser.
2. Landing page will get open.
3. Press tab key to reach to the sections present under 'Stepper Variants'.
4. Observe whether screen reader is announcing label name for section present under stepper variants in Windows or not.

Expected Behavior

Screen reader should announce the label name for section present under stepper variants in Windows.

Actual Behavior

Screen reader is not announcing label name for section present under stepper variants in Windows.

Screen.reader.is.not.announcing.label.name.for.section.present.under.stepper.variants.in.Windows.mp4

Environment

OS: Windows 11 25H2 (OS Build 26200.6584)
Browser: Edge (Version 140.0.3485.94)
Angular 20.x.
Material: 20.2.7
Screen Reader: NVDA (2025.2), JAWS (2025.2508.120), Narrator
URL: https://material.angular.dev/components/stepper/overview

[Kin230k]

One useful triage split is the documentation example boundary versus the stepper itself. On the current overview, keyboard traversal crosses the visible Stepper overview / Stepper vertical example wrappers and then the inner role="tablist" / role="tab" structure. If the missing announcement is the example name, the likely acceptance target is a named region (for example, aria-labelledby pointing at the visible example title) in the docs example container. If the individual step headers are nameless, that is a component-level tab-accessible-name defect instead.

I would capture the accessibility tree and the exact first-focus speech at both boundaries, then test horizontal and vertical examples with NVDA + Edge and Narrator + Edge. The regression contract should verify that the example name is announced once on entry, every step tab retains its label plus selected/disabled/optional state, and switching orientation does not duplicate the label or move focus. That matrix should make it clear whether the fix belongs in the docs example shell, MatStepper, or both without changing tab semantics speculatively.