8. Conformance

This section is normative.

8.1. Non-interference with the Host Language

WAI-ARIA processing by the user agent MUST NOT interfere with the normal operation of the built-in features of the host language.

If a CSS selector includes a WAI-ARIA attribute (e.g., input[aria-invalid="true"]), user agents MUST update the visual display of any elements matching (or no longer matching) the selector any time the attribute is added/changed/removed in the DOM. The user agent MAY alter the mapping of the host language features into an accessibility API, but the user agent MUST NOT alter the DOM in order to remap WAI-ARIA markup into host language features.

8.2. All WAI-ARIA in DOM

A conforming user agent which implements a document object model that does not conform to the W3C DOM specification MUST include the content attribute for role and its WAI-ARIA role values, as well as the WAI-ARIA States and Properties in the DOM as specified by the author, even though processing may affect how the elements are exposed to accessibility APIs. Doing so ensures that each role attribute and all WAI-ARIA states and properties, including their values, are in the document in an unmodified form so other tools, such as assistive technologies, can access them. A conforming W3C DOM meets this criteria.

8.3. Assistive Technology Notifications Communicated to Web Applications

Assistive technologies, such as voice recognition systems and alternate input devices for users with mobility impairments, require the ability to control a web application in a device-independent way. WAI-ARIA states and properties reflect the current state of rich internet application components. The ability for assistive technologies to notify web application of necessary changes is essential because it allows these alternative input solutions to control an application without being dependent on the standard input device which the user is unable to effectively control directly.

User agents MUST provide a method to notify the web application when a change occurs to states or properties in the system accessibility API. Likewise, web application authors SHOULD update the web application accordingly when notified of a change request from the user agent or assistive technology.

Note: Many state and properties can be changed by assistive technologies through existing accessibility APIs by responding to a default action event. For example, the aria-selected state of a tab in a tabpanel can be changed by triggering the default action on the element.

8.4. Conformance Checkers

Any application or script verifying document conformance or validity SHOULD include a test for all of the normative author requirements in this specification. If testing for a given requirement, conformance checkers MUST issue an error if an author "MUST" requirement isn't met, and MUST issue a warning if an author "SHOULD" requirement isn't met.