Element list: selection and link-colour parity assessment

[kfenner]

Decision

This issue does not represent a required generic .list / .list-item capability and does not block the non-breaking list-group deprecation in #2742. The Element list is intentionally a layout primitive with explicit controls for selection, such as checkboxes or radio buttons, rather than a Bootstrap-compatible selected or disabled row API.

Selected and disabled state

Persistent selection and disabled behavior belong to the interaction that owns them, including its semantics and keyboard behavior. A cdkListbox, navigation list, or master-detail selector must provide its own visual state and appropriate ARIA (aria-selected, aria-current, or native disabled) instead of relying on a generic .list-item.active or .list-item.disabled selector.

The legacy .list-group styles remain available for existing consumers, including consumers that still rely on Bootstrap-style .active and .disabled affordances. Any migration of si-widget-catalog, si-list-widget-*, or custom-widget-catalog therefore needs a consumer-specific design and implementation task; it is not a reason to extend the generic Element list.

Anchor colour

.list-item-action uses color: inherit by design so an interactive row follows the surrounding content colour. Whether anchor action rows should instead preserve the default link colour is a separate visual-language decision, not a functional or accessibility gap. Create a focused design request if a concrete anchor-list use case needs a different default.

Result

The migration guidance in #2742 now documents the verified markup and variant mappings:

• Apply .list-item.list-item-action to the same <button> or <a>.
• Use .list.list-divider when a flush migration should preserve dividers.
• Use a custom counter for numbered lists because .list-item removes list markers.

No generic selected/disabled selector or anchor-colour change is planned from this issue.

Context: #2742 (deprecation) · #2745 (list inside cards) · #2746 (internal migration)

[kfenner]

Closing as not planned: the original request assumed Bootstrap list-group parity was required for the generic Element list. The intended scope and migration ownership are now documented in the issue body; interaction-specific consumers should track focused work where needed.