End-to-end cognitive accessibility regression test suite
epic-cognitive-accessibility-wizard-ui-task-016 — Write a full end-to-end integration test using Flutter integration_test that walks through the complete registration wizard flow: start wizard, fill each step, trigger a validation error (verifying PlainLanguageErrorDisplay), tap inline help on a field (verifying InlineContextualHelpWidget), pause mid-wizard, resume from draft, reach ConfirmBeforeSubmitScreen, confirm, and verify successful submission. This test serves as the living contract for the entire cognitive accessibility epic.
Acceptance Criteria
Technical Requirements
Execution Context
Tier 7 - 84 tasks
Can start after Tier 6 completes
Implementation Notes
Structure the test as a single sequential flow rather than isolated unit tests — the goal is a living contract proving the full user journey works end-to-end. Use `find.bySemanticsLabel` for all interactions to simultaneously validate accessibility labels. For the 'pause/resume' step, inject a fake lifecycle observer into the widget binding rather than relying on the OS — this makes the test deterministic in CI. For the draft-resume step, ensure the BLoC's draft persistence (typically Hive or Supabase draft row) is seeded before the resume step rather than relying on the prior pause step to have written it, making the test order-independent.
Add a descriptive comment block at the top of the file explaining this is the 'living contract' for the cognitive accessibility epic — future developers should update this test when accessibility-related behaviour changes.
Testing Requirements
Flutter integration_test framework. Each scenario step should be a clearly commented section within a single `testWidgets` block (or grouped `group` blocks) to serve as living documentation. Use `IntegrationTestWidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized()`. Mock Supabase using a fake SupabaseClient injected via dependency injection — do not rely on network calls.
For lifecycle simulation, use `tester.binding.handleAppLifecycleStateChanged`. Assert PlainLanguageErrorDisplay using a regex to detect common technical error patterns (e.g., no occurrences of 'null', 'exception', 'stacktrace', '500', 'error code'). Run this test suite in TestFlight distribution for iOS acceptance validation.
The WizardStateManager BLoC must guarantee that step transitions only occur on explicit user action, never automatically. Subtle reactive patterns in Bloc (e.g. stream listeners triggering add() calls) could inadvertently auto-advance the wizard, violating the core cognitive accessibility rule and creating a regression that is difficult to detect without dedicated tests.
Mitigation & Contingency
Mitigation: Write a dedicated unit test that subscribes to the BLoC stream and asserts no StepChanged event is emitted for 5 seconds after a state update, without an explicit user-sourced event being dispatched. Make this test part of the CI gate for the WizardStateManager.
Contingency: If an auto-advance regression is discovered post-integration, introduce a mandatory UserActionToken parameter on all step-transition events so the BLoC can structurally refuse transitions that do not originate from a user gesture handler.
The ConfirmBeforeSubmitScreen requires deep-linking back to specific wizard steps for corrections. Implementing bidirectional navigation within a multi-step wizard while preserving all previously entered state is architecturally non-trivial and may conflict with the existing StatefulShellRoute navigation setup described in the app architecture.
Mitigation & Contingency
Mitigation: Design the ConfirmBeforeSubmitScreen's back-navigation links to dispatch a GoToStep event on the WizardStateManager rather than using GoRouter's pop() chain. This keeps navigation state entirely in the BLoC and avoids coupling to the router's stack semantics.
Contingency: If BLoC-driven step navigation proves incompatible with the router, implement the correction flow as a dedicated sub-route that pre-populates its form from the WizardStateManager's current draft, then merges the edited field back into the draft on completion before returning to the confirm screen.
The CognitiveAccessibilityAudit utility must inspect live widget trees for violations such as icon-only buttons. Flutter's widget tree inspection APIs are available in test mode but have limitations in identifying semantic intent (e.g. distinguishing a decorative icon from a navigation button). False negatives could give a false sense of compliance.
Mitigation & Contingency
Mitigation: Augment the audit with a convention-based approach: require all navigation buttons to use a named wrapper widget (e.g. LabelledNavigationButton) that the audit can detect by type, rather than relying solely on widget-tree semantics analysis.
Contingency: If widget-tree detection proves insufficiently reliable, scope the CognitiveAccessibilityAudit to route-configuration analysis (verifying back navigation availability per route) and static analysis of wizard step count definitions via the CognitiveLoadRuleEngine, which provides deterministic results.
The InlineContextualHelpWidget sources content from a bundled JSON asset via the HelpContentRegistry. If help texts are missing for newly added screens or fields (a likely scenario as the 61-feature app grows), the widget silently shows nothing, degrading the accessibility experience without any visible failure.
Mitigation & Contingency
Mitigation: Integrate a CognitiveAccessibilityAudit check that verifies every registered (screenId, fieldId) pair that requests help has a corresponding entry in the HelpContentRegistry bundle. Run this check in CI as part of the audit report.
Contingency: Add a debug-mode overlay that highlights fields with missing help entries using a visible warning indicator, making coverage gaps immediately obvious to developers during local development before they reach CI.