Other Spec Review: OpaqueRange

[stephanieyzhang]

Specification

• Add OpaqueRange interface whatwg/dom#1404
• Integrate OpaqueRange hooks into text controls (input/textarea) whatwg/html#11741

Explainer

https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/main/OpaqueRange/explainer.md

Links

• Previous early design review, if any: Incubation: FormControlRange - Live ranges for <input> and <textarea> #1142
• An introduction to the feature, aimed at unfamiliar audiences: Introduction
• A description of the problems that end-users were facing before this proposal: User-Facing Problem
• Alternatives considered: Alternatives Considered
• Examples of how to use the proposal to solve the end-users' problems: Proposed Approach
• What do the end-users experience with this proposal: Proposed Approach
• User research you did to validate the problem and/or design, if any: No formal user research; relevant validation feedback is included under “Other feedback and reviews” below.
• Web Platform Tests: https://wpt.fyi/results/dom/ranges/tentative?label=experimental&label=master&aligned

The specification

• Follows the Web Platform Design Principles.
• Includes Security and Privacy Considerations sections based on answers to the Security/Privacy Questionnaire.
  • Filled out questionnaire: https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/main/OpaqueRange/security-privacy-questionnaire.md

Where and by whom is the work is being done?

• GitHub repo:
  • https://github.com/whatwg/dom
  • https://github.com/whatwg/html
• Primary contacts:
  • Stephanie Zhang (@stephanieyzhang), Microsoft, Chromium implementer and spec contributor
  • Dan Clark (@dandclark), Microsoft, engineering lead and spec editor
  • Leo Lee (@leotlee), Microsoft, team lead
• Organization/project driving the specification: WHATWG
• This work is being funded by: Microsoft
• Primary standards group developing this feature: WHATWG
• Group intended to standardize this work: WHATWG
• Incubation and standards groups that have discussed the design:
  • WHATWG: FormControlRange Interface whatwg/html#11478
  • CSSWG: [cssom-1] A more direct method than caretPositionFromPoint() w3c/csswg-drafts#10346
  • TPAC 2025 Meeting Minutes: https://www.w3.org/2025/11/11-whatwg-minutes.html

Feedback so far

• Multi-stakeholder feedback:
  • Chromium comments: Positive; Chromium is prototyping the feature and plans to begin developer and origin testing soon
  • Mozilla comments: OpaqueRange: AbstractRange subtype for encapsulated content (<input>, <textarea>) mozilla/standards-positions#1289 and FormControlRange Interface whatwg/html#11478 (comment)
  • WebKit comments: OpaqueRange: AbstractRange subtype for encapsulated content (<input>, <textarea>) WebKit/standards-positions#541
  • Other feedback and reviews:
    • [cssom-1] A more direct method than caretPositionFromPoint() w3c/csswg-drafts#10346
    • [css-highlight-api] Need to support a mechanism for creating ranges inside textarea and input elements w3c/csswg-drafts#4603
    • [FormControlRange] A Note on Existing Options MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers#1104
• Major unresolved issues with or opposition to this specification:
  • No major unresolved design objections at this time. The proposal has continued to evolve based on prior TAG feedback and ongoing multi-stakeholder discussion
• Status/issue trackers for implementations:
  • Chrome Status
  • Mozilla Bugzilla
  • WebKit's Bugzilla

You should also know that...

This proposal previously received early TAG design review in #1142, under its earlier name, FormControlRange, which was later renamed to OpaqueRange.

Since that review, the proposal has advanced to Stage 2 of the WHATWG process, evolved into draft specification text in WHATWG DOM and WHATWG HTML, and incorporated feedback from Mozilla and Apple.

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Track conversations at https://tag-github-bot.w3.org/gh/w3ctag/design-reviews/1206

[stephanieyzhang]

Hello, I noticed that issue #1206 for OpaqueRange <#1206> was closed shortly after filing. It was initially created without the full content because I had lost my draft before submitting, but I updated it shortly afterward and before it was closed. Sorry for the confusion. Could you please reopen the issue? If a different review template would be more appropriate, I’d be happy to adjust it. Thanks, Stephanie

…

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:36 AM Christian Liebel ***@***.***> wrote: Closed #1206 <#1206> as completed. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1206?email_source=notifications&email_token=AHGVWDSHOMEPUXTENI2EZ3D4RWFTFA5CNFSNUABQM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKFOZSW45CON52GSZTJMNQXI2LPNYXTEMZXGYYTMMBVGAZDBJTSMVQXG33OU5WWK3TUNFXW5JLFOZSW45FMMZXW65DFOJPWG3DJMNVQ#event-23761605020>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHGVWDSPXS7QBBRU4WCIDAD4RWFTFAVCNFSM6AAAAACWZNW5SCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV45UABCJFZXG5LFIV3GK3TUJZXXI2LGNFRWC5DJN5XDWMRTG43DCNRQGUYDEMA> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[christianliebel]

@stephanieyzhang Reopened! Sorry for the inconvenience. We occasionally receive spam posts without the completed template.