5 Rules of ARIA

Have you ever heard about ARIA? It might sound weird and maybe even intimidating at first.

In this post, I'd like to talk about the 5 essential rules of ARIA.

What does ARIA stand for?

Let's start first from the meaning of this acronym.
ARIA - stands for Accessible Rich Internet Applications.
It's a set of roles and attributes that define ways to make web content and web applications (especially those developed with JavaScript) more accessible to everyone.

There are 5 essential rules of ARIA.

First Rule - Don't use ARIA (unless you don't have a choice)

It might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but rather than creating our own custom elements and trying to make them accessible by adding ARIA attributes, we should use native HTML elements instead.

Instead of creating a button using <div>

<div role=“button” tabindex=“0” aria-pressed=“false”>Open</button>

It'd be much better to use native HTML <button> instead

<button type=“button”>Open</button>

If we can use a native HTML element, then we should do so. We should reach out to ARIA as a last resort.

Second Rule - Prefer native semantics over ARIA

We should always prefer native HTML elements over custom elements with ARIA attributes.

Let's say, we'd like to create a title. In such case, it'd be better if we use a native <h2> HTML element rather than a <div> with ARIA attributes.

Not a good idea.

<div role="heading" aria-level="2">Title text</div>

We should prefer to use native HTML elements instead.

<h2>Title text</h2> 

NOTE:
If we create an interactive element, let's say a <button>, using <div>.
In addition to using proper ARIA attributes, we will need to add appropriate interaction behavior (e.g. click handler) using JavaScript.

That's why, in the case of a <button>, it is much better and easier to just use a native element.

<button type=“button”>Open</button>

Third Rule - All interactive elements must be usable with a keyboard

All interactive elements, whether it be a custom element we created or a native HTML element, must be usable with both a mouse and a keyboard.

If we created a widget that can be clicked, tapped, dragged, slid, or scrolled. A user should be able to use it with both a mouse and a keyboard.

If using role=button, on a custom element, the element must be able to receive focus and a user must be able to activate the action associated with the element using both the enter (on WIN OS) and the space key.

Fourth Rule - Do not use role="presentation" or aria-hidden="true" on a focusable element

Using role="presentation" or aria-hidden on a focusable element might result in some users focusing on it and getting inaccurate information. In some cases, users won't even be able to discover such elements.

Using either of these on a focusable element might result in some users focusing on 'nothing'.

<button role=“presentation”>press me</button> 

<button aria-hidden=“true”>press me</button>

NOTE: Setting aria-hidden on a parent/ancestor element, of a visible interactive element (e.g. <button>), will also hide an element from assistive technologies (e.g. screen reader).

<div aria-hidden="true">  
   <button>press me</button> 
</div> 

NOTE: We can use aria-hidden on an element, as long as it's not focusable.

We can set tabindex="-1" on a focusable element that will remove it from the tab order, so it won't be focusable by a keyboard, but we can still be able to focus it using JavaScript if we want to.

// tabindex="-1" removes the button from the tab order  
<button tabindex=“-1” aria-hidden=“true”>press me</button> 

NOTE: If we use display: none or visibility: hidden (either on an element or on the element's ancestor) it won't be focusable and will be removed from the accessibility tree.
That is, screen readers won't be able to discover it. In such case, we don't need to add aria-hidden or negative tabindex on such an element.

CSS

.hidden-btn {display: none;} 

HTML

<button class=“hidden-btn“>press me</button> 

Fifth Rule - All interactive elements must have an accessible name

Accessible name, is a name of a UI element. Each platform has its own accessibility API which provides such property. The value of the accessible name may be derived from a visible or invisible property on an element.

Visible property - visible text of an element. Let's say, a visible text on a button.

Invisible property - ARIA attributes such as aria-label or aria-labelledby

Let's take a look at a few examples, so we can understand it better.

Here the text "press me" is the visible text of the <button> and as such, can be used as an accessible name.

<button>press me</button>

When the <button> receives focus, a screen reader may announce something like "press me, button" concatenating a role (button) of the element and its name (press me).

The order of concatenation and a role description depends on a platform's accessibility API and the assistive technology (e.g. screen reader) that is used.

The <input> in the code examples below has a visible label "username" , but no accessible name

username <input type="text"> 

or

<span>username</span> <input type="text">

Here the <input> has a visible label but it can not be used as an accessible name. It cannot be associated with the <input>.
In such case, a screen reader won't be able to announce the accessible name of the <input>. That would be, an accessibility violation.

In comparison, this <input> has both a visible label and an accessible name.

Using <for> attribute

<label for="userNameId">username</label> 
<input type="text" id="userNameId"> 

or

Wrapping it with a <label>

<label> 
  username  
  <input type="text"> 
</label> 

In the examples above, we use a <label> element to provide an accessible name for our <input>.

What if we can't use <label> or for attribute?

In such a case we might use ARIA attributes,
namely aria-label or aria-labelledby.

Using aria-label

<input type="text" aria-label="Username"> 

Using aria-labelledby

<span id="fldUsrnm">username</span>  


<input type="text" aria-labelledby="fldUsrnm">

In this situation, we use ARIA as a last resort, which is perfectly fine.

Conclusion

There you have it the 5 rules of ARIA

1. Don't use ARIA (unless you really have to)

2. Prefer native semantics over ARIA

3. All interactive elements must be usable with a keyboard

4. Do not use role="presentation" or aria-hidden="true" on a
   focusable element

5. All interactive elements must have an accessible name

Of course it's not all, and we barely scratched the surface. Nevertheless, I hope it's a beginning of a better understanding ARIA.

I hope this post was useful for you as a reference.