The Native-or-Custom Component Decision Walk
Decide when a component should stay native, use an ARIA APG pattern, or be redesigned.
Component fork You are reviewing a ticket for a searchable select in a production signup flow. Design wants a polished custom dropdown. Engineering wants speed. Accessibility depends on choosing the right interaction contract before code starts. The expensive mistake is not choosing custom. It is choosing custom without owning keyboard behavior, focus, names, roles, state, and tests. Decision model Native first -> APG pattern -> redesign Use three gates: prove native cannot meet the task, prove the documented custom pattern can be implemented, and redesign if the team cannot own the contract. Visual first Pick the prettiest widget, add ARIA…
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