From 680a8c2a474ce0b5d95eece4f627713d43f26f8d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Huyen Nguyen <25715018+huyenltnguyen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2026 03:28:26 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] fix(client): a11y and styling issues in challenge transcript
 (#65580)

---
 .../components/challenge-transcript.css       | 16 ++++---
 .../components/challenge-transcript.test.tsx  | 26 +++++++---
 .../components/challenge-transcript.tsx       | 24 ++++------
 .../components/scene/scene-helpers.test.ts    | 48 ++++++++++++-------
 .../components/scene/scene-helpers.ts         |  8 ++--
 5 files changed, 71 insertions(+), 51 deletions(-)

diff --git a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.css b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.css
index 0bc2065418d..9a747a80b28 100644
--- a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.css
+++ b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.css
@@ -4,14 +4,16 @@
   margin-top: 1.5em;
 }
 
-#learn-app-wrapper .transcript-table {
-  display: table;
-  width: 100%;
-  border: 1px solid var(--gray-05);
-  border-collapse: collapse;
+.challenge-transcript .transcript-dialogue {
+  border: 1px solid var(--secondary-color);
 }
 
-#learn-app-wrapper .transcript-table td {
-  border: none;
+.challenge-transcript .transcript-dialogue p {
+  margin: 0;
+  padding: 6px 13px;
   text-align: start;
 }
+
+.challenge-transcript .transcript-dialogue p:nth-child(odd) {
+  background-color: var(--tertiary-background);
+}
diff --git a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.test.tsx b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.test.tsx
index 588af47d0e5..53d3c9c1876 100644
--- a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.test.tsx
+++ b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.test.tsx
@@ -59,21 +59,35 @@ describe('<ChallengeTranscript />', () => {
     setSpy.mockRestore();
   });
 
-  it('should render the transcript as a table when isDialogue is true', () => {
+  it('should render the transcript as paragraphs when isDialogue is true', () => {
     store.set('fcc-transcript-expanded', true);
 
     render(
       <ChallengeTranscript
         {...baseProps}
-        transcript={'Hello\nWorld'}
+        transcript={'<p><b>Alice</b>: Hello</p><p><b>Bob</b>: World</p>'}
         shouldPersistExpanded={true}
         isDialogue={true}
       />
     );
-    const table = screen.getByRole('table');
-    expect(table).toBeVisible();
-    expect(screen.getByRole('cell', { name: 'Hello' })).toBeVisible();
-    expect(screen.getByRole('cell', { name: 'World' })).toBeVisible();
+
+    /* eslint-disable testing-library/no-node-access */
+    const aliceB = screen.getByText('Alice');
+    expect(aliceB).toBeVisible();
+    expect(aliceB.tagName).toBe('B');
+
+    const aliceP = aliceB.parentElement;
+    expect(aliceP?.tagName).toBe('P');
+    expect(aliceP?.textContent).toBe('Alice: Hello');
+
+    const bobB = screen.getByText('Bob');
+    expect(bobB).toBeVisible();
+    expect(bobB.tagName).toBe('B');
+
+    const bobP = bobB.parentElement;
+    expect(bobP?.tagName).toBe('P');
+    expect(bobP?.textContent).toBe('Bob: World');
+    /* eslint-enable testing-library/no-node-access */
   });
 
   it('should render the transcript with PrismFormatted when isDialogue is false', () => {
diff --git a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.tsx b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.tsx
index d4670084bf4..5922e902c4e 100644
--- a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.tsx
+++ b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/challenge-transcript.tsx
@@ -36,7 +36,11 @@ function ChallengeTranscript({
 
   return (
     <>
-      <details data-testid='challenge-transcript' open={isOpen}>
+      <details
+        data-testid='challenge-transcript'
+        className='challenge-transcript'
+        open={isOpen}
+      >
         <summary
           onClick={toggleExpandedState}
           aria-expanded={isOpen}
@@ -46,20 +50,10 @@ function ChallengeTranscript({
         </summary>
         <Spacer size='m' />
         {isDialogue ? (
-          <table className='transcript-table'>
-            <tbody>
-              {transcript
-                .split('\n')
-                .filter(line => line.trim() !== '')
-                .map((line, idx) => {
-                  return (
-                    <tr key={idx}>
-                      <td dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: line }} />
-                    </tr>
-                  );
-                })}
-            </tbody>
-          </table>
+          <div
+            className='transcript-dialogue'
+            dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: transcript }}
+          />
         ) : (
           <PrismFormatted className='line-numbers' text={transcript} />
         )}
diff --git a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.test.ts b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.test.ts
index 8db2fe7dce5..b8077412460 100644
--- a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.test.ts
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
         }
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
-      expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Hello world, I have 5 cats\n'
-      );
+      expect(result).toBe('<p><b>Naomi</b>: Hello world, I have 5 cats</p>');
     });
 
     it('should build transcript from multiple commands with dialogue', () => {
@@ -56,9 +54,9 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
       expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Hello\n' +
-          '\n<strong>Quincy</strong>: Hi there, I found 3 bugs\n' +
-          '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: How are you?\n'
+        '<p><b>Naomi</b>: Hello</p>' +
+          '<p><b>Quincy</b>: Hi there, I found 3 bugs</p>' +
+          '<p><b>Naomi</b>: How are you?</p>'
       );
     });
 
@@ -88,8 +86,7 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
       expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Hello\n' +
-          '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: How are you?\n'
+        '<p><b>Naomi</b>: Hello</p>' + '<p><b>Naomi</b>: How are you?</p>'
       );
     });
 
@@ -106,7 +103,7 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
       expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: He said "I love TypeScript!" & she replied, \'I prefer Ruby! #ruby #rubyonrails\'\n'
+        '<p><b>Naomi</b>: He said "I love TypeScript!" & she replied, \'I prefer Ruby! #ruby #rubyonrails\'</p>'
       );
     });
 
@@ -122,7 +119,7 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
         }
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
-      expect(result).toBe('\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: \n');
+      expect(result).toBe('<p><b>Naomi</b>: </p>');
     });
 
     it('should handle dialogue with newlines', () => {
@@ -137,7 +134,7 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
         }
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
-      expect(result).toBe('\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Hello\nworld\n');
+      expect(result).toBe('<p><b>Naomi</b>: Hello\nworld</p>');
     });
 
     it('should handle multiple consecutive commands from same character', () => {
@@ -169,9 +166,9 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
       expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: First line\n' +
-          '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Second line\n' +
-          '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Third line\n'
+        '<p><b>Naomi</b>: First line</p>' +
+          '<p><b>Naomi</b>: Second line</p>' +
+          '<p><b>Naomi</b>: Third line</p>'
       );
     });
 
@@ -187,9 +184,7 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
         }
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
-      expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: Use <div> and <span> tags\n'
-      );
+      expect(result).toBe('<p><b>Naomi</b>: Use <div> and <span> tags</p>');
     });
 
     it('should preserve Chinese dialogue with ruby annotations', () => {
@@ -205,8 +200,25 @@ describe('scene-helpers', () => {
       ];
       const result = buildTranscript(commands);
       expect(result).toBe(
-        '\n<strong>Naomi</strong>: <ruby>你好<rp>(</rp><rt>nǐ hǎo</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>，<ruby>世界<rp>(</rp><rt>shì jiè</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>。\n'
+        '<p><b>Naomi</b>: <ruby>你好<rp>(</rp><rt>nǐ hǎo</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>，<ruby>世界<rp>(</rp><rt>shì jiè</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>。</p>'
       );
     });
+
+    it('should wrap dialogue lines in p tags and speakers in b tags', () => {
+      const commands: SceneCommand[] = [
+        {
+          character: 'Alice',
+          startTime: 1,
+          dialogue: {
+            text: 'Hello',
+            align: 'left'
+          }
+        }
+      ];
+      const result = buildTranscript(commands);
+      expect(result).toContain('<p>');
+      expect(result).toContain('</p>');
+      expect(result).toContain('<b>Alice</b>');
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.ts b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.ts
index 6902d6e9ea7..69a6042fad5 100644
--- a/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.ts
+++ b/client/src/templates/Challenges/components/scene/scene-helpers.ts
@@ -6,13 +6,11 @@ export const buildTranscript = (commands: SceneCommand[]): string => {
     if (command.character && command.dialogue && command.startTime) {
       transcriptText =
         transcriptText +
-        '\n' +
-        '<strong>' +
+        '<p><b>' +
         command.character +
-        '</strong>:' +
-        ' ' +
+        '</b>: ' +
         command.dialogue.text +
-        '\n';
+        '</p>';
     }
   });