Jenna Smith and James Nelson explain why Base UI’s filterable menu is a dialog with a search field rather than a combobox. Arrow keys highlight items via aria-activedescendant while focus stays in the input, Home and End depend on whether there’s text, and each submenu gets its own input. The input uses type="text" with role="searchbox" to avoid native clear buttons, and focus isn’t trapped.
Building a filterable menu that works for everyone
