Add aria-sort to sorted DataTable column headers

[olitreadwell]

Problem

DataTable column headers did not expose the current sort state to assistive technology.

There was no aria-sort on any <th>, so a screen reader user could not tell which column the table was sorted by, or in which direction.

This is a distinct, self-found gap in the sortable headers.

It is related to the maintainer-confirmed screen-reader/table-semantics discussion in marmelab#11108, but that issue is about clickable rows, not the column-header sort state, so this PR does not close it.

Solution

Pass the active sort direction to the MUI TableCell through its sortDirection prop.

MUI maps that prop to aria-sort="ascending" or aria-sort="descending" on the <th> element.

Only the currently sorted column receives aria-sort; other columns get none, which matches the ARIA spec.

The change is one prop on DataTableHeadCell; no visual change.

How To Test

From the repo root:

git fetch https://github.com/olitreadwell/react-admin.git feat/datatable-aria-sort
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
yarn install
LANG=en_US.UTF-8 NODE_ENV=test BABEL_ENV=cjs NODE_ICU_DATA=./node_modules/full-icu \
  node_modules/.bin/jest packages/ra-ui-materialui/src/list/datatable/DataTable.spec.tsx

The three new tests under DataTable > Sorting fail on master and pass with this change.

Manual: open any DataTable, turn on a screen reader, and confirm the sorted column announces "sorted ascending/descending".

Additional Checks

• The PR targets master for a bugfix or a documentation fix, or next for a feature
• The PR includes unit tests (3 new tests in DataTable.spec.tsx)
• The PR includes one or several stories: not needed: this is an a11y fix to existing behaviour, covered by the existing Basic DataTable story the new tests render.
• The documentation is up to date: no doc change: aria-sort is internal behaviour with no public API change.

Checks run locally

• Tests: PASS: DataTable.spec.tsx 30 passed (3 new); list/datatable folder 34 passed
• Lint (eslint): PASS on the two changed files (+ husky lint-staged on commit)
• Prettier: PASS on the two changed files
• Build/typecheck (lerna run build for ra-ui-materialui + deps): PASS

Scope

One logical change: aria-sort on the modern DataTable header cell + its tests.

The legacy Datagrid (DatagridHeaderCell) has the same gap; left for a separate follow-up PR to keep this one reviewable.

AI disclosure

Drafted with AI assistance.

I found the gap, wrote the failing tests first to prove it, verified the fix makes them pass, and reviewed the diff line by line. marmelab/react-admin does not require an AI-disclosure; included here as good practice.

Promotion note (fork-staged)

This PR is staged inside the fork (olitreadwell/react-admin, base master).

To open it upstream:

gh pr create --repo marmelab/react-admin --base master \
  --head olitreadwell:contrib/marmelab-react-admin-20260805-110228

No CLA, DCO, or signed commits are required by CONTRIBUTING.

Consider referencing marmelab#11108 (related table-a11y discussion) when promoting.

AI assistance

Drafted with AI assistance.

The gap was found and verified against the current code, the change was verified before opening, and this diff was reviewed line by line.

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PROMOTION NOTE (remove this section before/when opening against upstream):

gh pr create --repo marmelab/react-admin --base master --head olitreadwell:feat/datatable-aria-sort

Prerequisites: none outstanding (re-verify CLA/DCO/signing before promoting).

[olitreadwell]

Closing as duplicate: the same change was already submitted upstream in marmelab#11339 (CLOSED). See marmelab#11339

[olitreadwell]

Superseded by upstream marmelab#11339.