Element with aria-live="polite" read twice

[alex-shpak1]

Brief summary

I have 2 elements - <input>, described by <span>. The span element has aria-live="polite".
The goal is to display the number of characters entered, and to read the text by screen reader.

Full code snippet

<input id="input" aria-describedby="span">
<span id="span" aria-live="polite></span>

<script>
const inputEl = document.getElementById("input");
const textEl = document.getElementById("description");
let timeout;
inputEl.addEventListener("keydown", (e) => {
clearTimeout(timeout);
timeout = setTimeout(() => {
textEl.textContent = e.target.value.length + " characters entered";
}, 1500);
});
</script>

Chrome, Firefox and Edge under Windows read the text inside <span> element twice.

Same behaviour if I use aria-labelledby instead of aria-describedby - text read twice.

If I remove aria-live form <span> element, or set it to off - NVDA doesn't read that text at all

It works fine when I remove the aria-describedby attribute from <input> element, but it looks like a bug to me.

VoiceOver on MacOS reads the text only once in any browser.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Chrome
2. Open this sandbox https://codesandbox.io/p/sandbox/summer-bush-3dgmc2
3. Enable screen reader
4. In sandbox preview click input and type any word

Actual behavior

In 1.5 seconds after you stop typing the text inside is updated.
NVDA reads the text twice

Expected behavior

NVDA should read the text once

NVDA logs, crash dumps and other attachments

No response

NVDA type

installed copy

NVDA version

2025.3.2.53588

Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.

No

Windows version

Windows 10 v.10.0.19045 Build 19045

Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue

Edge v.142.0.3595.94
Chrome v.143.0.7499.41
Firefox v.145.0.2

Other information about your system

Running Win10 in VMWare Fusion

Does the issue still occur after restarting your computer?

I have restarted my computer and the issue still occurs

If NVDA add-ons are disabled, is your problem still occurring?

I have restarted NVDA with add-ons disabled and the issue still occurs

Does the issue still occur after you run the COM Registration Fixing Tool in NVDA's tools menu?

I have run the COM Registration Fixing Tool and the issue still occurs