diff --git a/src/lib/components/common/RichTextInput.svelte b/src/lib/components/common/RichTextInput.svelte
index 3edb39da55..dfe18126ad 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/common/RichTextInput.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/common/RichTextInput.svelte
@@ -965,7 +965,9 @@
 				}
 			},
 			editorProps: {
-				attributes: { id },
+				// the tiptap placeholder never becomes the field's accessible name;
+				// function form so a placeholder change is picked up after mount
+				attributes: () => ({ id, 'aria-label': _placeholder }),
 				handleDrop: (view, event) => {
 					// Intercept sidebar chat item drops to prevent ProseMirror
 					// from inserting the raw JSON as text. The actual handling