Design - WAI-ARIA Roles

Roles are WAI-ARIA specifications that describe the states and properties of a design element. Assistive technologies, such as screen readers, which make user interfaces accessible to blind computer users, read the screen content aloud and relay the information to the text-to-speech output and the Braille display. Here is a typical page layout in which roles have been assigned to the individual elements:

The following roles can be assigned to the elements you use in the layout:

banner

This role is used to mark up content that is specific to the website, such as page titles or logos.

complementary

Indicates supplementary content that can stand on its own when separated from the main content, such as a news ticker on a website.

contentinfo

Used for footnotes, copyright notices, default settings, legal notices, and similar content.

main

Always relates directly to the main content or leads to the central content of the document.

navigation

Indicates areas that contain navigation links.

Indicates sections with search functions.

note

Indicates comments or notes regarding the main content.

article

Used when content makes sense on its own, such as a blog post or forum post.

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