Using a WAI-ARIA role to expose the role of a user interface component

Status

• New technique.
• Surveyed by TF 9 July 2012
• Discussed 9 July 2012
• Surveyed by WG 21 June 2013
• Accepted by WG 23 July 2013

Applicability

This technique applies to technologies that support WAI-ARIA, such as HTML.

WCAG references

• ensure-compat-rsv: Name, Role, Value (sufficient)

Description

The objective of this technique is to define the role of an element using the role attribute with one of the non-abstract values defined in the WAI-ARIA Definition of Roles. The WAI-ARIA specification provides an informative description of each role, how it relates to other roles, and the states and properties for each role. When rich internet applications define new user interface widgets, exposing the roles enables users to understand the widget and how to interact with it.

Examples

Example 1: A simple toolbar

The WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices document demonstrates a toolbar containing three buttons. The div element has a role of "toolbar", and the img elements have "button" roles:

 <div role="toolbar"
      tabindex="0" 
      id="customToolbar" 
      onkeydown="return optionKeyEvent(event);"
      onkeypress="return optionKeyEvent(event);"
      onclick="return optionClickEvent(event);"
      onblur="hideFocus()"
      onfocus="showFocus()"
      > 
      <img src="img/btn1.gif" 
           role="button" 
           tabindex="-1" 
           alt="Home" 
           id="b1" 
           title="Home">
      <img src="img/btn2.gif" 
           role="button" 
           tabindex="-1" 
           alt="Refresh" 
           id="b2" 
           title="Refresh">
     <img src="img/btn3.gif" 
           role="button" 
           tabindex="-1" 
           alt="Help" 
           id="b3" 
           title="Help"> 
 </div>  

The AEGIS project website includes a working example of a menubar.

Example 2: A Tree Widget

The WAI-ARIA Primer demonstrates a tree widget. Note the use of the roles "tree", "treeitem", and "group" to identify the tree and its structure. Here is a simplified excerpt from the code:

<ul role="tree" tabindex="0">
  <li role="treeitem">Birds</li>
  <li role="treeitem">Cats
    <ul role="group">
      <li role="treeitem">Siamese</li>
      <li role="treeitem">Tabby</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li role="treeitem">Dogs
    <ul role="group">
      <li role="treeitem">Small Breeds
        <ul role="group">
          <li role="treeitem">Chihuahua</li>
          <li role="treeitem">Italian Greyhound</li>
          <li role="treeitem">Japanese Chin</li>
        </ul>
      </li>
      <li role="treeitem"">Medium Breeds
        <ul role="group">
          <li role="treeitem">Beagle</li>
          <li role="treeitem">Cocker Spaniel</li>
          <li role="treeitem">Pit Bull</li>
        </ul>
      </li>
      <li role="treeitem">Large Breeds
        <ul role="group">
          <li role="treeitem">Afghan</li>
          <li role="treeitem">Great Dane</li>
          <li role="treeitem">Mastiff</li>
        </ul>
      </li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

The AEGIS project website includes a working example of a tree.

Resources

• Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.0, Roles
• Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.0, The Roles Model
• HTML to Platform Accessibility APIs Implementation Guide: HTML Element to Accessibility API Role Mapping Matrix
• WAI-ARIA 1.0 Primer
• WAI-ARIA 1.0 Authoring Practices
• Using ARIA in HTML

Tests

Procedure

For a user interface component using the role attribute:

1. Check that the value of the role attribute is one of the non-abstract roles from the values defined in the WAI-ARIA specification.
2. Check that the characteristics of the user interface component are described by the role.

Expected Results

• #1 and #2 are true