HTML5 accessibility - work in progress June 2015

Major Browsers Summary - Chrome and Firefox Rock!

HTML5 Accessibility Support Score

68/100
+ 94.5/100
91/100
37/100
??/100

Overview

This site is a resource to provide information about which new HTML5 user interface features are accessibility supported in browsers, making them usable by people who rely upon assistive technology (AT) to use the web.

Note: Browsers may not have practical accessibility support for HTML features on particular operating systems. Refer to Rough Guide: browsers, operating systems and screen reader support for details.

It is not intended to dissuade developers from using new HTML5 features. Sometimes there are better choices, sometimes developers have to add a little extra to make the feature useful or usable, and other times features have simply not been implemented by any browser or only by browsers that do not yet support assistive technologies. As a consequence it may not yet be practical to use a particular HTML5 feature.

The information in the support table is updated on a semi-regular basis, to keep up with support improvements made in browsers as new versions are released.

Support Tables - Legend & notes

NOTE: Opera is now under Chrome as it uses Chrome's rendering engine and any accessibility support it may have is provided by Chrome's accessibility implementation.

Major browsers - Details

HTML5 feature accessibility support in Major Browsers
HTML5 elements (links to test files)	Safari 8 - OSX	Chrome 43 - windowsOpera	Firefox 38 - windows	IE 11 - windows	Edge	Notes
`article`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Firefox: exposes element with a `document` role in MSAA/IA2
`aside`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Firefox: exposes as ARIA `role="complementary"` via IA2 object attribute and IA2 `note` role.
`audio`	Partially supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	Safari: requires VoiceOver to be enabled to be usable with the keyboard. Firefox: (funky) keyboard access is provided via Firefox specific shortcuts Chrome: Full support! IE 11: Full Support
`canvas`	Partially supported	Supported	Supported	Partially supported	Unknown	IE, Chrome, Firefox: supports the accessible canvas element sub-DOM. Firefox, Chrome: support drawfocus ring. Safari: supports the accessible canvas element sub-DOM. Note: VoiceOver does not appear to announce text in canvas sub-DOM.
`datalist`	Not implemented	Partially supported	Supported	Partially supported	Unknown	Chrome: keyboard accessible. Does not expose datalist as list. (related bug)
`details`	Not supported	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	Safari: refer to bug131111.
`dialog`	Not implemented	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: exposes correct role for dialog and traps focus in dialog in the modal state. Note: Currently Chrome keyboard support is incomplete, does not move focus back to trigger control on dialog close (chrome dialog bug) .
`figcaption`	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs. Chrome, Firefox: exposes element as IA2 `caption` role and the element name as an IA2 object attribute. Firefox: exposes the `figcaption` content as an accessible name for its parent `figure`. Safari: figcaption bug
`figure`	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs. Firefox & Chrome: exposes element `role=group` with accessible name from `figcaption`. Safari: dependent on figcaption bug
`footer`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Firefox, Chrome: exposes as ARIA landmark `role="contentinfo"` when not a child of `article` or `section` elements
`header`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Chrome: exposes element with a `section` role in IA2 Firefox: exposes as ARIA landmark `role="banner"` when not a child of `article` or `section` elements
`color` `input`	Supported	Supported	Partially supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: has keyboard support, exposes button as IA2 color chooser exposes color information in RGB as accValue. Firefox: keyboard accessible, exposed as a button but color value not exposed to AT. Refer to bug 559767
`Date` `input`	Not implemented	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: keyboard operable. role state and property information exposed for input , but not for datepicker interface. Datepicker can be opened using `alt+down` arrow keys.
`E-mail` `input`	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	Firefox: supported in Version 27: see resolved bug Expose whether the input is a search, url, tel, etc. ~~Chrome bug filed~~ - fixed Safari bug
`Month` `input`	Not implemented	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: keyboard operable. role state and property information exposed for input , but not for datepicker interface. Datepicker can be opened using `alt+down` arrow keys.
`Number` `input`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: ~~chrome bug 385014~~ fixed
`Range` `input`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	all good
`Search` `input`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	Firefox: supported in Version 27: see resolved bug Expose whether the input is a search, url, tel, etc. ~~Chrome bug filed~~ - fixed Safari: AXSubRole: Searchfield
`Telephone` `input`	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Firefox: supported in Version 27: see resolved bug Expose whether the input is a search, url, tel, etc. ~~Chrome bug filed~~ - fixed Safari bug
`Time` `input`	Not implemented	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: Full support.
`URL` `input`	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	Firefox: supported in Version 27: see resolved bug Expose whether the input is a search, url, tel, etc. Chrome bug filed - resolved fixed! Safari bug
`Week` `input`	Not implemented	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	Chrome: keyboard operable. role state and property information exposed for input , and datepicker interface. Datepicker can be opened using `alt+down` arrow keys.
`mark`	Not supported	Partially supported	Partially supported	Not supported	Unknown	Currently provides the same amount of semantic information to AT as a span element. Firefox bug: make <mark> element accessible Chrome bug: 494612 , Safari Bug 145974
`main`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Firefox and Chrome: implements as `role=main.`IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug)
`menu` `- popup menu`	Not implemented	Not implemented	Partially supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Firefox: does not indicate presence of popup menu.
`menu` `- toolbar`	Not implemented	Not implemented	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	not implemented
`menuitem`	Not implemented	Not implemented	Supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Firefox: Supports menu item role and keyboard interaction.
`meter`	Supported	Partially supported	Not supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Safari: role= AXProgressIndicator, both current vlaue and fallback content exposed. Firefox: role exposed as meter in MSAA, properties not exposed. Firefox bug 1 (API) and Firefox bug 2 (UI) Chrome: exposed as progressbar and value announced, refer to firefox bugs for implementation details that need working out.
`nav`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Firefox: exposes as ARIA landmark `role="navigation"` via IA2 object attribute
`output`	Not implemented	Supported	Supported	Not implemented	Unknown	Firefox: accessibility support implemented - IA2 `section` role, with `aria-live=polite` and hasIA2 `controlled_by relation` defined by `@for` attribute. Chrome: implemented with role=status, refer to Chrome bug. IE: not supported, IE bug filed Note: there is currently disagreement amongst implementers as to how the seamtnics of the output element should be exposed: bug 26135 - is `role=status` correct for output element?
`progress`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	all good
`section`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Chrome: exposes element with a `section` role in IA2 Firefox: exposes element with a `paragraph` role in IA2 (Unsure about the correctness of this mapping). Refer to HTML5 Accessibility Chops: section elements
`summary`	Not supported	Supported	Not implemented	Not implemented	Unknown	IE: provides no semantic information via accessibility APIs (related bug) Chrome: ~~keyboard support, correct role, (implemented but not in release - expanded/collapsed state). chrome bug: Issue 282016~~ - fixed Safari: not exposed as a control - see bug131111.
`time`	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Unknown	Currently provides the same amount of semantic information to AT as a span element. Chrome bug filed: Bug 480861 - expose HTML time element semantics in acc layer, implementation in progress.
`track`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	IE: supports both WebVTT and TTML Chrome/Firefox: only support WebVTT Refer to WebVTT support in browsers for more details
`video`	Partially supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	Safari: requires VoiceOver to be enabled to be usable with the keyboard. Firefox: keyboard support suboptimal - cannot interact with individual controls. refer to Bug 494175 - Make <video> and <audio> controls keyboard navigable Chrome: full support! IE 11: Full support!

A work in progress: June 2015

Major Browsers Summary - Chrome and Firefox Rock!

Overview

Major browsers - Details

Support Tables - Legend & notes:

HTML5 Accessibility Support Score calculation:

selected HTML5 attributes (note: this is not all of them!)	Safari 8 - OSX	Chrome 43 - windowsOpera	Firefox 38 - windows	IE 11 - windows	Edge	Notes
`hidden`	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	Chrome, Firefox, IE: Content within elements that have a hidden attribute are not displayed or navigable. Note: In all supporting browsers CSS `display:none` is applied to elements with the `hidden` attribute.
`required`	Partially supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Unknown	Firefox: exposes popup message as alert and identifies the field as invalid. Chrome: exposes as IA2 `required and invalid` states, does not expose popup message. IE: required state exposed via (UIA - CurrentHelpText;This is a required field; CurrentIsRequiredForForm;True;) No MSAA. Safari: exposes `AXrequired` state, does not expose `AXinvalid` state.
`placeholder`	Supported	Partially supported	Partially supported	Partially supported	Unknown	Safari: Note VoiceOver always announces the placeholder attribute content before label text. Note: there are incompatibilities between the IE, Firefox and Chrome accessibility implementations of placeholder. Refer to: HTML5 accessibility Chops: the placeholder attribute