MDL-76849 qtype: Add a questionidentifier instance variable

* Add an instance variable to question_display_options to store the
identifier associated with the question being rendered.
* This information can be used by question type plugins to improve the
accessibility of the answer fields being rendered by adding the
question identifier to the answer fields' labels.
* Adding the question identifier to the label can be achieved by using
question_display_options::add_question_identifier_to_label().

Co-authored-by: Tim Hunt <t.j.hunt@open.ac.uk>

question/engine/lib.php

@@ -639,6 +639,20 @@ class question_display_options {
      */
     public $userinfoinhistory = self::HIDDEN;
 
+    /**
+     * This identifier should be added to the labels of all input fields in the question.
+     *
+     * This is so people using assistive technology can easily tell which input belong to
+     * which question. The helper {@see self::add_question_identifier_to_label() makes this easier.
+     *
+     * If not set before the question is rendered, then it defaults to 'Question N'.
+     * (lang string)
+     *
+     * @var string The identifier that the question being rendered is associated with.
+     *              E.g. The question number when it is rendered on a quiz.
+     */
+    public $questionidentifier = null;
+
     /**
      * Set all the feedback-related fields {@link $feedback}, {@link generalfeedback},
      * {@link rightanswer} and {@link manualcomment} to
@@ -669,6 +683,38 @@ class question_display_options {
         }
         return $options;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Helper to add the question identify (if there is one) to the label of an input field in a question.
+     *
+     * @param string $label The plain field label. E.g. 'Answer 1'
+     * @param bool $sridentifier If true, the question identifier, if added, will be wrapped in a sr-only span. Default false.
+     * @param bool $addbefore If true, the question identifier will be added before the label.
+     * @return string The amended label. For example 'Answer 1, Question 1'.
+     */
+    public function add_question_identifier_to_label(string $label, bool $sridentifier = false, bool $addbefore = false): string {
+        if (!$this->has_question_identifier()) {
+            return $label;
+        }
+        $identifier = $this->questionidentifier;
+        if ($sridentifier) {
+            $identifier = html_writer::span($identifier, 'sr-only');
+        }
+        $fieldlang = 'fieldinquestion';
+        if ($addbefore) {
+            $fieldlang = 'fieldinquestionpre';
+        }
+        return get_string($fieldlang, 'question', (object)['fieldname' => $label, 'questionindentifier' => $identifier]);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Whether a question number has been provided for the question that is being displayed.
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function has_question_identifier(): bool {
+        return $this->questionidentifier !== null && trim($this->questionidentifier) !== '';
+    }
 }
 
 

question/engine/renderer.php

@@ -80,6 +80,12 @@ class core_question_renderer extends plugin_renderer_base {
     public function question(question_attempt $qa, qbehaviour_renderer $behaviouroutput,
             qtype_renderer $qtoutput, question_display_options $options, $number) {
 
+        // If not already set, record the questionidentifier.
+        $options = clone($options);
+        if (!$options->has_question_identifier()) {
+            $options->questionidentifier = $this->question_number_text($number);
+        }
+
         $output = '';
         $output .= html_writer::start_tag('div', array(
             'id' => $qa->get_outer_question_div_unique_id(),
@@ -152,16 +158,35 @@ class core_question_renderer extends plugin_renderer_base {
         if (trim($number ?? '') === '') {
             return '';
         }
-        $numbertext = '';
         if (trim($number) === 'i') {
             $numbertext = get_string('information', 'question');
         } else {
             $numbertext = get_string('questionx', 'question',
-                    html_writer::tag('span', $number, array('class' => 'qno')));
+                    html_writer::tag('span', s($number), array('class' => 'qno')));
         }
         return html_writer::tag('h3', $numbertext, array('class' => 'no'));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the question number as a string.
+     *
+     * @param string|null $number e.g. '123' or 'i'. null or '' means do not display anything number-related.
+     * @return string e.g. 'Question 123' or 'Information' or ''.
+     */
+    protected function question_number_text(?string $number): string {
+        $number = $number ?? '';
+        // Trim the question number of whitespace, including  .
+        $trimmed = trim(html_entity_decode($number), " \n\r\t\v\x00\xC2\xA0");
+        if ($trimmed === '') {
+            return '';
+        }
+        if (trim($number) === 'i') {
+            return get_string('information', 'question');
+        } else {
+            return get_string('questionx', 'question', s($number));
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Add an invisible heading like 'question text', 'feebdack' at the top of
      * a section's contents, but only if the section has some content.

question/engine/tests/question_display_options_test.php

@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+namespace core_question;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@see \question_display_options}.
+ *
+ * @coversDefaultClass \question_display_options
+ * @package   core_question
+ * @category  test
+ * @copyright 2023 Jun Pataleta
+ * @license   http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+class question_display_options_test extends \advanced_testcase {
+
+    /**
+     * Data provider for {@see self::test_has_question_identifier()}
+     *
+     * @return array[]
+     */
+    public function has_question_identifier_provider(): array {
+        return [
+            'Empty string' => ['', false],
+            'Empty space' => ['   ', false],
+            'Null' => [null, false],
+            'Non-empty string' => ["Hello!", true],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests for {@see \question_display_options::has_question_identifier}
+     *
+     * @covers ::has_question_identifier
+     * @dataProvider has_question_identifier_provider
+     * @param string|null $identifier The question identifier
+     * @param bool $expected The expected return value
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function test_has_question_identifier(?string $identifier, bool $expected): void {
+        $options = new \question_display_options();
+        $options->questionidentifier = $identifier;
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $options->has_question_identifier());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Data provider for {@see self::test_add_question_identifier_to_label()
+     *
+     * @return array[]
+     */
+    public function add_question_identifier_to_label_provider(): array {
+        return [
+            'Empty string identifier' => ['Hello', '', false, false, "Hello"],
+            'Null identifier' => ['Hello', null, false, false, "Hello"],
+            'With identifier' => ['Hello', 'World', false, false, "Hello World"],
+            'With identifier, sr-only' => ['Hello', 'World', true, false, 'Hello <span class="sr-only">World</span>'],
+            'With identifier, prepend' => ['Hello', 'World', false, true, "World Hello"],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests for {@see \question_display_options::add_question_identifier_to_label()}
+     *
+     * @covers ::add_question_identifier_to_label
+     * @dataProvider add_question_identifier_to_label_provider
+     * @param string $label The label string.
+     * @param string|null $identifier The question identifier.
+     * @param bool $sronly Whether to render the question identifier in a sr-only container
+     * @param bool $addbefore Whether to render the question identifier before the label.
+     * @param string $expected The expected return value.
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function test_add_question_identifier_to_label(
+        string $label,
+        ?string $identifier,
+        bool $sronly,
+        bool $addbefore,
+        string $expected
+    ): void {
+        $options = new \question_display_options();
+        $options->questionidentifier = $identifier;
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $options->add_question_identifier_to_label($label, $sronly, $addbefore));
+    }
+}

question/engine/upgrade.txt

@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 This files describes API changes for the core question engine.
 
+=== 4.1.2 ===
+
+* A `$questionidentifier` property has been added to `\question_display_options` to enable question type plugins to associate the
+question number to the question that is being rendered. This can be used to improve the accessibility of rendered
+questions and can be especially be helpful for screen reader users as adding the question number on the answer field(s) labels
+will allow them to distinguish between answer fields as they navigate through a quiz.
+* Question type plugins can use \question_display_options::add_question_identifier_to_label() to add the question number to the
+label of the answer field(s) of the question that is being rendered. The question number may be redundant when displayed, so the
+function allows for it to be enclosed within an sr-only container.
+
 === 4.0 ===
 1) A new optional parameter $extraselect has been added as a part of load_questions_usages_where_question_in_state()
    method in question/engine/datalib.php, anything passed here will be added to the SELECT list, use this to return extra data.