diff --git a/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.stories.tsx b/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.stories.tsx
index fb8c4699fe0..725fa9f9ed2 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.stories.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.stories.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import React, {useEffect} from 'react'
 import type {Meta} from '@storybook/react'
 import {ProgressBar} from '..'
-import type {ProgressBarBaseProps} from './ProgressBar'
+import type {ProgressBarProps} from './ProgressBar'
 
 const sectionColorsDefault = [
   'success.emphasis',
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export default {
 
 export const Default = () => <ProgressBar aria-label="Upload test.png" />
 
-export const Playground = ({sections, ...args}: ProgressBarBaseProps & {sections: number}) => {
+export const Playground = ({sections, ...args}: ProgressBarProps & {sections: number}) => {
   const [sectionColors, setSectionColors] = React.useState(sectionColorsDefault)
 
   useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.tsx b/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.tsx
index ccfa2f06926..de9450fdd5e 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/ProgressBar/ProgressBar.tsx
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ const ProgressContainer = toggleStyledComponent(
 )
 
 export type ProgressBarItems = React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLSpanElement> & {
-  'aria-label': string
   className?: string
 } & ProgressProp &
   SxProp
@@ -83,6 +82,7 @@ export const Item = forwardRef<HTMLSpanElement, ProgressBarItems>(
     {
       progress,
       'aria-label': ariaLabel,
+      'aria-hidden': ariaHidden,
       'aria-valuenow': ariaValueNow,
       'aria-valuetext': ariaValueText,
       className,
@@ -110,6 +110,24 @@ export const Item = forwardRef<HTMLSpanElement, ProgressBarItems>(
     styles[progressBarWidth] = progress ? `${progress}%` : '0%'
     styles[progressBarBg] = (bgType && `var(--bgColor-${bgType[0]}-${bgType[1]})`) || 'var(--bgColor-success-emphasis)'
 
+    if (__DEV__) {
+      /**
+       * The Linter yells because it thinks this conditionally calls an effect,
+       * but since this is a compile-time flag and not a runtime conditional
+       * this is safe, and ensures the entire effect is kept out of prod builds
+       * shaving precious bytes from the output, and avoiding mounting a noop effect
+       */
+      // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/rules-of-hooks
+      React.useEffect(() => {
+        if (!ariaHidden && !ariaLabel) {
+          // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+          console.warn(
+            'This component should include an aria-label or should be aria-hidden if surrounding text can be used to perceive the progress.',
+          )
+        }
+      }, [ariaHidden, ariaLabel])
+    }
+
     return (
       <ProgressItem
         className={clsx(className, {[classes.ProgressBarItem]: enabled})}
@@ -127,26 +145,11 @@ export const Item = forwardRef<HTMLSpanElement, ProgressBarItems>(
 
 Item.displayName = 'ProgressBar.Item'
 
-export type ProgressBarBaseProps = Omit<
-  React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLSpanElement> & {
-    bg?: string
-    className?: string
-  } & StyledProgressContainerProps &
-    ProgressProp,
-  'children' | 'aria-label'
->
-
-export type WithChildren = {
-  children: React.ReactNode
-  'aria-label'?: never
-}
-
-export type WithoutChildren = {
-  children?: never
-  'aria-label': string
-}
-
-export type ProgressBarProps = ProgressBarBaseProps & (WithChildren | WithoutChildren)
+export type ProgressBarProps = React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLSpanElement> & {
+  bg?: string
+  className?: string
+} & StyledProgressContainerProps &
+  ProgressProp
 
 export const ProgressBar = forwardRef<HTMLSpanElement, ProgressBarProps>((props, forwardRef) => {
   const {
@@ -158,6 +161,7 @@ export const ProgressBar = forwardRef<HTMLSpanElement, ProgressBarProps>((props,
     'aria-label': ariaLabel,
     'aria-valuenow': ariaValueNow,
     'aria-valuetext': ariaValueText,
+    'aria-hidden': ariaHidden,
     className,
     ...rest
   } = props
@@ -188,9 +192,10 @@ export const ProgressBar = forwardRef<HTMLSpanElement, ProgressBarProps>((props,
         <Item
           data-animated={animated}
           progress={progress}
-          aria-label={ariaLabel as string}
+          aria-label={ariaHidden ? undefined : ariaLabel}
           aria-valuenow={ariaValueNow}
           aria-valuetext={ariaValueText}
+          aria-hidden={ariaHidden}
           bg={bg}
         />
       )}
diff --git a/packages/react/src/__tests__/ProgressBar.test.tsx b/packages/react/src/__tests__/ProgressBar.test.tsx
index 3406d659fe5..5adcca74f0b 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/__tests__/ProgressBar.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/__tests__/ProgressBar.test.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ import axe from 'axe-core'
 import {FeatureFlags} from '../FeatureFlags'
 
 describe('ProgressBar', () => {
+  const mockWarningFn = jest.fn()
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.spyOn(global.console, 'warn').mockImplementation(mockWarningFn)
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.clearAllMocks()
+  })
+
   behavesAsComponent({
     Component: ProgressBar,
     toRender: () => <ProgressBar aria-label="Upload test.png" aria-valuenow={10} progress={0} />,
@@ -112,4 +122,19 @@ describe('ProgressBar', () => {
 
     expect(getByRole('progressbar')).toHaveAttribute('aria-valuenow', '0')
   })
+
+  it('should warn users if aria-label is not provided', () => {
+    HTMLRender(<ProgressBar.Item progress={50} />)
+    expect(mockWarningFn).toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('should not warn users if aria-label is not provided but aria-hidden is', () => {
+    HTMLRender(<ProgressBar.Item progress={50} aria-hidden={true} />)
+    expect(mockWarningFn).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('should not warn users if aria-label is  provided', () => {
+    HTMLRender(<ProgressBar.Item progress={50} aria-label="Uploading test.png" />)
+    expect(mockWarningFn).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
 })