bug(mat-form-field): VoiceOver reads multiple group, set aria-hidden to supporting elements

[d-timur-reply]

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

related to #32797

Supporting elements in MatFormField should have aria-hidden="true" here because they do not contribute to accessibility. I suggest the "Ripple" family of components, in this case selector matformfieldlineripple but also in all other places, to automatically add aria-hidden="true".

If hints and errors are empty, MatFormField still renders a hint wrapper, which then would read as an empty "group". In this case, this wrapper should also be "aria-hidden="true".

Reproduction

StackBlitz link: https://stackblitz.com/edit/components-issue-starter-cudkchbv?file=src%2Fmain.ts
Steps to reproduce:

1. enable VoiceOver
2. navigate through elements

Expected Behavior

At best, it should should skip the first "input", directly read "Input, edit text" and after that "test"

Actual Behavior

VoiceOver is reading the following at each navigation step:

1. Input
2. Input, edit text
3. group
4. group

Environment

• Angular: tested with 18 and 20
• CDK/Material: tested with 18 and 20
• Browser(s): Chrome
• Operating System (e.g. Windows, macOS, Ubuntu): macOS 26

[crisbeto]

How are you navigating through it to see the groups? At least with tabbing I couldn't get VoiceOver to read them out.