bug: ion-searchbar input is always labelled "search text"; aria-label on the host is not forwarded

Author: tzdevelopteamCreated Sep 27, 2026Updated Sep 27, 2026
Labelstriage

Prerequisites

  • I have read the Contributing Guidelines.
  • I agree to follow the Code of Conduct.
  • I have searched for existing issues that already report this problem, without success.

Ionic Framework Version

  • v8.x / v9.x (reproduced on 9.0.3)

Current Behavior

The native <input> rendered by ion-searchbar always carries aria-label="search text":

https://github.com/ionic-team/ionic-framework/blob/main/core/src/components/searchbar/searchbar.tsx#L690

and the component inherits only lang and dir from the host:

https://github.com/ionic-team/ionic-framework/blob/main/core/src/components/searchbar/searchbar.tsx#L285

So an aria-label (or aria-labelledby) placed on <ion-searchbar> never reaches the input. A screen reader announces every searchbar as "search text, search field" — in English, whatever the app language, and without saying what the field searches (members, chats, messages, places…). ion-input and ion-textarea already forward aria-label from the host to the native control, so ion-searchbar is the odd one out.

Expected Behavior

ion-searchbar forwards aria-label / aria-labelledby from the host to its <input>, the way ion-input does, keeping "search text" as the fallback when the host sets neither.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Render <ion-searchbar aria-label="Search family members" placeholder="Search family members"></ion-searchbar>.
  2. Inspect the rendered input.searchbar-input, or focus it with VoiceOver / NVDA.
  3. The input's accessible name is "search text"; the host's aria-label is ignored.

Code Reproduction URL

The three-line snippet above reproduces it in any Ionic app; the behaviour follows directly from the two source lines linked. Happy to add a StackBlitz if that helps triage.

Ionic Info

Ionic Framework 9.0.3, Angular 22 (standalone), Capacitor 8. Observed with iOS 18 VoiceOver and Chrome 140 + NVDA.

Additional Information

Our workaround is an Angular directive on ion-searchbar that, after render, copies the host placeholder onto input.searchbar-input as aria-label. I would be glad to open a PR that adds aria-label / aria-labelledby to the inherited attributes and passes them to the input, falling back to "search text".

Source: ionic-team/ionic-framework