Safari Technology Preview 242: New Features and Bug Fixes for Web Developers
Safari Technology Preview Release 242 is now available for download on macOS Tahoe and macOS Sequoia. If you already have Safari Technology Preview installed, you can update it in System Settings under General → Software Update. This release includes WebKit changes between revisions 310187@main and 310599@main, bringing a host of improvements across accessibility, CSS, forms, HTML, and images.
Accessibility Improvements
Resolved Issues
VoiceOver no longer reads text inside images that have role="presentation", fixing a previous issue where screen readers incorrectly announced decorative content. Additionally, macOS accessibility support for customizable <select> elements using appearance: base-select has been resolved, ensuring a smoother experience for users relying on assistive technologies.
CSS Enhancements
New Features
The CSS attr() function from CSS Values Level 5 is now supported, giving developers more flexibility to use attribute values in styles. Also, support for the oblique-only value for font-synthesis-style has been added as defined in CSS Fonts Level 4, enabling finer control over font style synthesis.
Resolved Issues
Several bugs have been squashed in this release: The @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) query now correctly matches inside iframes when the iframe’s color-scheme is set to dark. The position-try-order property now interprets logical axis values using the containing block’s writing mode rather than the element’s own writing mode, aligning with spec expectations. Percent-height replaced elements no longer compute stale preferred widths in shrink-to-fit containers. The table cell nowrap minimum width calculation quirk is now only applied in quirks mode, as intended. Checkbox outlines are now properly aligned. Anchor-positioned elements anchored to children of sticky-positioned boxes now stick correctly. Pseudo-elements are sorted correctly when sorting anchor elements by tree order. Ligatures no longer cause a non-zero layout width for text with font-size: 0. The :in-range and :out-of-range pseudo-classes update correctly when the readonly attribute changes. Finally, view-timeline-inset serialization now coalesces identical values properly.
Forms Updates
Resolved Issues
A fix addresses an issue where <select multiple> did not always fire the onchange event when the mouse button was released far outside the element, ensuring more reliable form behavior.
HTML Improvements
New Features
The closedby attribute on <dialog> elements is now supported, allowing developers to control how dialogs can be dismissed (e.g., by clicking outside).
Resolved Issues
The HTML parser fast path now correctly processes escaped attribute values longer than one character, correctly detects nested <li> elements, and uses the adjusted current node for MathML and SVG integration point checks. These fixes enhance parsing accuracy and compatibility.
Image Handling Fixes
Resolved Issues
An issue where inserting an image with a srcset attribute into the DOM caused unexpected behavior has been fixed, improving image rendering and responsive image support.
For more details on this release, visit the official Safari Technology Preview page or check the complete WebKit changelog on the WebKit website. Stay tuned for future updates!