@dnd-kit/accessibility

The @dnd-kit/accessibility package provides screen reader announcements and keyboard navigation support specifically for dnd-kit drag-and-drop interactions. In practice, it's a small, focused package that you'll import alongside @dnd-kit/core. The API is straightforward: wrap components with <DndContext> and pass `screenReaderInstructions` or use the `announcements` prop to customize what assistive technologies hear during drag operations.

The TypeScript support is solid with proper type exports for announcement configurations. However, the documentation assumes familiarity with dnd-kit's broader ecosystem - you won't find standalone guides here. Most developers will copy-paste the announcements object from examples and customize text strings, which works fine but feels somewhat boilerplate-heavy.

The actual accessibility improvements are meaningful and work reliably across screen readers. Custom announcement hooks like `useDndMonitor` let you intercept drag events and provide contextual feedback. The main friction point is that it's not always obvious what announcements are needed for your specific use case without testing with actual screen readers.

This package is part of the @dnd-kit suite and specifically handles screen reader announcements and keyboard navigation for drag-and-drop interactions. From a security perspective, it has a very limited attack surface - it's essentially a pure utility library that manages ARIA live regions and announcement strings. No network calls, no data persistence, no authentication flows.

The library follows secure-by-default principles reasonably well. It sanitizes announced text by rendering to DOM elements rather than using innerHTML, which prevents XSS injection through announcement strings. Error handling is straightforward - it fails gracefully if the DOM isn't available (SSR contexts), though errors could be more informative during development. Input validation is minimal but appropriate for its scope; it expects well-formed configuration objects and doesn't do deep validation, which could lead to runtime errors if you pass malformed data.

Dependency-wise, it has zero external dependencies beyond React peer deps, which significantly reduces supply chain risk. The maintainer has a consistent release history with security-conscious updates. TLS/crypto isn't applicable here. The main security consideration is ensuring your announcement strings don't contain user-generated content without proper sanitization upstream.

This package provides screen reader announcements and keyboard navigation support for @dnd-kit/core. It's refreshingly lightweight - essentially a set of React hooks and components that manage ARIA live regions and announcements. The runtime footprint is negligible, which matters when drag-and-drop operations are already CPU-intensive.

The `DndContext` integration is straightforward via the `announcements` prop. You provide functions that return strings for different drag states (onDragStart, onDragOver, onDragEnd), and the library handles the live region updates. The `hiddenTextAnnouncer` and `screenReaderInstructions` helpers work out of the box with sensible defaults, though you'll want to customize them for domain-specific language.

One gotcha: the announcement timing can feel laggy under heavy load since it relies on React's render cycle. There's no batching or debouncing built-in, so rapid state changes can queue up announcements. The API is stable across versions, and error handling is passive - invalid configurations simply fall back to no announcements rather than throwing. Documentation assumes familiarity with ARIA patterns, which can be a hurdle initially.