[iOS][Accesibility] Accessibility roles and states which are polyfilled by React Native aren't translated to device language

[pmleczek]

Description

This issue is partially related to #43266

On React Native 0.85.3 it seems that polyfilled accessibility roles (e.g. checkbox or radio) and states (e.g. expanded, checked, unchecked) are now correctly assigned to the native components and announced by VoiceOver. However, the announcement is correct only in english as despite being localized strings the assigned values aren't correctly translated to any other language

In one of the comments under that issue it's stated that it does work differently in OSS and internal and hasn't been released externally. Is there any plan for it? This issue severely affects accessibility user experience and is rather difficult to spot since I suppose many developers are testing using VoiceOver with english

Steps to reproduce

1. Install the provided reproduction application on an iOS device
2. Ensure your device language is set to english (incl. VoiceOver)
3. Enable VoiceOver and run the application
4. Observe how in english custom checkbox component is correctly announced ("one, checkbox, checked")
5. Switch device and VoiceOver language to something else than english
6. Enable VoiceOver and run the application
7. Observe how this time aria-label ("1") is correctly announced in the selected language, but "checkbox" and "checked" is still announced in english

React Native Version

0.85.3

Affected Platforms

Runtime - iOS

Output of npx @react-native-community/cli info

System:
  OS: macOS 26.3
  CPU: (14) arm64 Apple M4 Pro
  Memory: 173.83 MB / 24.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 24.7.0
    path: /Users/patrykmleczek/.nvm/versions/node/v24.7.0/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 3.6.4
    path: /Users/patrykmleczek/.nvm/versions/node/v24.7.0/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 11.5.1
    path: /Users/patrykmleczek/.nvm/versions/node/v24.7.0/bin/npm
  Watchman: Not Found
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.16.2
    path: /opt/homebrew/opt/ruby/bin/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 25.5
      - iOS 26.5
      - macOS 26.5
      - tvOS 26.5
      - visionOS 26.5
      - watchOS 26.5
  Android SDK:
    API Levels:
      - "31"
      - "33"
      - "34"
      - "36"
    Build Tools:
      - 30.0.3
      - 31.0.0
      - 33.0.0
      - 33.0.1
      - 34.0.0
      - 35.0.0
      - 36.0.0
    System Images:
      - android-33 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a
      - android-34 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a
      - android-34 | Google APIs Intel x86_64 Atom
      - android-34 | Google Play ARM 64 v8a
      - android-36 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a
      - android-36 | Google Play ARM 64 v8a
    Android NDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: 2025.1 AI-251.27812.49.2514.14217341
  Xcode:
    version: 26.5/17F42
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 17.0.17
    path: /opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk@17/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 3.4.7
    path: /opt/homebrew/opt/ruby/bin/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli": Not Found
  react:
    installed: 19.2.3
    wanted: 19.2.3
  react-native:
    installed: 0.85.3
    wanted: 0.85.3
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: Not found
  newArchEnabled: Not found

Stacktrace or Logs

No crash

MANDATORY Reproducer

https://github.com/pmleczek/accessibility-translation-issue-repro

Screenshots and Videos

Correct behavior (with english):

ScreenRecording_06-23-2026.23-48-18_1.mov

Incorrect behavior (on example of polish language) - still reads english words for "checkbox" and "checked":

ScreenRecording_06-23-2026.23-45-08_1.mov

[andrea-martinez-dev]

Thanks for bringing this up, there is another issue related to this #56296.
As I commented there I ended up creating custom accessibilityLabels as a workaround.

To be honest I don't know if this will ever be fixable, as probably it all depends on available native iOS accessibilityTraits which are really limited compared to Android and web ARIA roles and states: