Fix: narrow cover block selector exclusion to specific decorative classes

The broad [class*="wp-block-cover"] substring match excluded ANY element
whose class contained that string — including the outer .wp-block-cover
container and .wp-block-cover__inner-container, which hold real user
content. If aria-hidden="true" were incorrectly placed on either, the
checker would silently miss it.

WordPress core only places aria-hidden="true" on two specific decorative
child elements: .wp-block-cover__background (colour overlay) and
.wp-block-cover__image-background (background image). Use those exact
classes in the selector instead.

Also adds a comment documenting each exclusion, and replaces the false-
negative passing test for the outer container with a correct failing test.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: pattonwebz

src/pageScanner/rules/aria-hidden-validation.js

@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 export default {
 	id: 'aria_hidden_validation',
-	selector: '[aria-hidden="true"]:not([class*="wp-block-cover"]):not(.wp-block-spacer):not(.wp-block-separator)',
+	// WordPress core block elements that legitimately use aria-hidden="true" on decorative content:
+	//   wp-block-cover__background        — colour overlay span inside a cover block
+	//   wp-block-cover__image-background  — background image inside a cover block
+	//   wp-block-spacer                   — intentionally empty spacing element
+	//   wp-block-separator                — decorative HR element
+	selector: '[aria-hidden="true"]:not(.wp-block-cover__background):not(.wp-block-cover__image-background):not(.wp-block-spacer):not(.wp-block-separator)',
 	excludeHidden: false,
 	tags: [
 		'wcag2a',

tests/jest/rules/ariaHiddenValid.test.js

@@ -98,11 +98,6 @@ describe( 'Aria Hidden Validation', () => {
 			html: '<img class="wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-123" alt="" src="/photo.jpg" aria-hidden="true">',
 			shouldPass: true,
 		},
-		{
-			name: 'should pass for cover block container element with aria-hidden',
-			html: '<div class="wp-block-cover" aria-hidden="true"><div class="wp-block-cover__inner-container"><p>Content</p></div></div>',
-			shouldPass: true,
-		},
 		{
 			name: 'should pass for element with role="presentation"',
 			html: '<div role="presentation" aria-hidden="true">Content</div>',
@@ -205,6 +200,13 @@ describe( 'Aria Hidden Validation', () => {
 			html: '<h2 aria-hidden="true">Important heading</h2>',
 			shouldPass: false,
 		},
+		{
+			// The outer .wp-block-cover container holds real content and is not
+			// excluded by the selector — only the decorative child elements are.
+			name: 'should fail for aria-hidden="true" on the outer cover block container (hides real content)',
+			html: '<div class="wp-block-cover" aria-hidden="true"><div class="wp-block-cover__inner-container"><p>Visible content</p></div></div>',
+			shouldPass: false,
+		},
 		{
 			name: 'should fail for aria-hidden on form controls',
 			html: '<input type="text" aria-hidden="true">',