---
title: "Announce new items without stealing focus · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/notifications/in-app-notifications/accessible-inbox
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Announce new items without stealing focus

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Required
- Chapter: [In-app notifications](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/notifications/in-app-notifications)
- Rule: Announce new notifications to screen readers through a polite live region, and never move focus or open a dialog for them.
- How: Use the live region from [announce changes without moving focus](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility/status-messages). Write one short line per batch, such as "2 new notifications", never one line per item. Give the bell button a name that includes the unread count. Toasts stay until closed or pause on hover and focus, as in [give people enough time](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility/time-limits). Critical items stay in the inbox after the toast goes.
- Check: Run axe-core on the page with the inbox open and closed, and get zero violations. A browser test creates a notification and finds its text in the `role="status"` element, while `document.activeElement` stays where it was.

Example:

```html
<button type="button" class="inbox-bell" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="inbox-panel">
  Notifications <span class="inbox-count">3 unread</span>
</button>
<p role="status" class="visually-hidden" id="inbox-announcer"></p>
```

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers notifications playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/notifications/in-app-notifications/accessible-inbox`.

- Previous: [Deliver new items live and catch up after a gap](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/notifications/in-app-notifications/live-inbox-updates)
- Next: [Delete old inbox items on a schedule](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/notifications/in-app-notifications/inbox-retention)
- [In-app notifications](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/notifications/in-app-notifications)