Accessibility snapshot drops button name when text is nested inside spans with aria-hidden SVG #41985

Summary

When a <button> has its text content nested inside <span> elements alongside an aria-hidden="true" SVG icon, the accessibility snapshot (page.accessibility.snapshot() and Playwright MCP's browser_snapshot) reports the button with no accessible name — even though:

• getByRole('button', { name: 'Add New Item' }) successfully locates it
• Chromium's CDP Accessibility.getFullAXTree reports the correct name

This makes the button invisible to AI agents using Playwright MCP's snapshot-based navigation.

Repro

<button>
  <span>
    <span>
      <svg focusable="false" tabindex="-1" aria-hidden="true" viewBox="0 0 448 512">
        <path d="M416 208H272V64c0-17.67-14.33-32-32-32h-32c-17.67 0-32 14.33-32 32v144H32c-17.67 0-32 14.33-32 32v32c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h144v144c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h32c17.67 0 32-14.33 32-32V304h144c17.67 0 32-14.33 32-32v-32c0-17.67-14.33-32-32-32z"/>
      </svg>
    </span>
    <span>Add New Item</span>
  </span>
</button>

Steps

1. Load the HTML above
2. Call page.accessibility.snapshot() or use Playwright MCP browser_snapshot
3. Observe the button node has no name property in the output

Expected

- button "Add New Item" [ref=e5] [cursor=pointer]

Actual

- button [ref=e5] [cursor=pointer]

Evidence that the name IS computable

// This works — Playwright can find the button by name internally
const btn = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add New Item' });
await expect(btn).toBeVisible(); // passes

// CDP also reports the correct name
const client = await page.context().newCDPSession(page);
const { nodes } = await client.send('Accessibility.getFullAXTree');
const button = nodes.find(n => n.role?.value === 'button' && n.name?.value?.includes('Add New Item'));
// button.name.value === "Add New Item" ✓

Impact

This affects AI agents using Playwright MCP for browser automation. When a button's name is missing from the snapshot, agents cannot identify the button's purpose via browser_find or browser_snapshot, even though the button is clearly labeled visually and has a valid computed accessible name.

Likely cause

The snapshot serializer may not be traversing text content through nested <span> elements when an aria-hidden SVG sibling is present, or the name computation in the serializer diverges from the one used by getByRole.

Environment

• Playwright MCP: 0.0.78
• Playwright: (bundled with MCP)
• Browser: Chromium (headless)
• OS: macOS

System Info

System:
  OS: macOS 26.5.2
  CPU: (14) arm64 Apple M4 Pro
Binaries:
  Node: 26.0.0
  npm: 11.16.0
Packages:
  @playwright/mcp: 0.0.78