Widgets: Reveal widget edit links on keyboard focus - #14230

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Props sanketparmar, rejaulalomkhan.

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Thanks for turning comment:24 around so quickly, @sanketio! Keeping the links as screen-reader-text and refreshing the URL on focus is a neat way to keep them correct after drag and drop. I tested it locally:

Patch Testing Report

Patch tested: #14230 (head 30815d8)

Environment

• WordPress: 7.2-alpha-63166-src
• PHP: 8.3.35
• Server: wordpress-develop local Docker environment (nginx)
• Database: MySQL 9.7.2
• Browser: Microsoft Edge (headless, via Playwright)
• OS: Windows 11
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-One 2.9
• MU Plugins:
  • A one-line plugin returning false from use_widgets_block_editor, for the classic Widgets screen
• Plugins: None activated

Steps taken

1. Added a Search and a Pages widget to the sidebar and opened Appearance > Widgets with SCRIPT_DEBUG.
2. On trunk, the Edit link has hide-if-js; pressing Tab from the Search widget's toggle moves focus to the next widget's toggle.
3. With the PR, Tab from the toggle moves to the Search widget's Edit link, which appears left of the toggle with a focus ring (screenshot). In the Available Widgets list, the Add link behaves the same.
4. Checked the accessibility tree: the links are named "Edit Search" and "Add Archives", so the hidden "Add"/"Edit" span isn't announced.
5. Moved the Search widget below Pages in the DOM, as sorting does, and focused its link: the URL changed from key=0 to key=1.
6. ✅ Patch is solving the problem: keyboard users reach the single-widget screen from the standard Widgets screen, and the link stays hidden for mouse users.

Expected result

• The Edit/Add links are reachable and visible on keyboard focus, not visible otherwise, and point to the widget's current sidebar and position.

Additional Notes

• Focus order: the link shows up to the left of the toggle, but comes after it in the tab order (sidebar header → toggle → Edit). This may be fine since it only appears on focus, but placing it before the toggle in the DOM would make the visual and focus order match.
• I didn't run the e2e spec, a screen reader, or RTL.
• AI assistance: Claude Code (Claude Opus 5.5) was used to run the browser checks and take the screenshots; I reviewed the results.

Screenshots/Screencast with results

• Before (trunk), Search widget after tabbing past its toggle: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/52399/pr14230-trunk-tab.png
• After (PR), Edit link on focus: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/52399/pr14230-edit-focus.png
• After (PR), Add link in Available Widgets on focus: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/52399/pr14230-add-focus.png