isContentEditable should not change if its ancestor's contentEditable is set, no matter whether document.designMode is enabled or not. On success, you will see a series of "PASS" messages, followed by "TEST COMPLETE". document.designMode = "on" PASS document.getElementById("div").contentEditable is "inherit" PASS document.getElementById("div").isContentEditable is true PASS window.getComputedStyle(div, "").getPropertyValue("-webkit-user-modify") is "read-only" PASS document.getElementById("div2").contentEditable is "inherit" PASS document.getElementById("div2").isContentEditable is true PASS window.getComputedStyle(div2, "").getPropertyValue("-webkit-user-modify") is "read-only" PASS document.getElementById("p").contentEditable is "inherit" PASS document.getElementById("p").isContentEditable is true PASS window.getComputedStyle(p, "").getPropertyValue("-webkit-user-modify") is "read-write" PASS document.getElementById("p2").contentEditable is "inherit" PASS document.getElementById("p2").isContentEditable is true PASS window.getComputedStyle(p2, "").getPropertyValue("-webkit-user-modify") is "read-write" PASS successfullyParsed is true TEST COMPLETE