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HTML Accessibility

Not so short note on aria-label usage – Big Table Edition

David appears in my office through the wonder of the interwebs
An audience with Dr David Swallow wherein he outlines the existential threat to native labeling mechanisms posed by the use of aria-label.

Updated: 22 May 2024

aria-label is one of a number of secondary methods to label native HTML UI elements. It works particularly well on interactive elements, it also works well on most block level elements old skool term that have explicitly or implicitly defined structural roles. It works less well or not at all on text level semantics. It is prohibited as are any form of accessible name on a whole slew of roles.

Implicit roles are those applied automatically by browsers to native HTML elements.

Explicit roles are those applied by developers using the role attribute. When applied they override the implicit role of an element.

(Somewhat out of place here) general rules  for labeling

  1. Prefer visible over hidden labels
    1. Prefer text labels over icons
    2. If icons are used provide a supplementary text label ( may be displayed on focus/hover)
  2. Place visible labels as expected:
    1. For a checkbox or radio button, place the label immediately after the field.
    2. If  not a checkbox or radio button, place the label immediately before the field.
  3. Prefer native HTML labeling mechanisms, for Native HTML controls, over ARIA labeling mechanisms.

Never be tempted to use placeholder text as a label. It SUX.

Questions on aria-label usage

I find myself regularly asking these questions in regards to aria-label:

  1. Is it a good idea to use aria-label on element X?
  2. Does aria-label work as expected i.e is announced by screen readers on element Z?
  3. Is aria-label allowed on element Y?

FYI empty aria-label="" does not equal empty alt="", the latter signals that an img element has no useful information, the former does nothing.

aria-label masks any other accessible name source except aria-labelledby, which masks all others including aria-label.

For HTML elements I have provided some guidance on aria-label usage (which by all means you may disagree with):

Could I use aria-label?
HTML element aria-label notes
a with href yes Masks text content, so only aria-label is announced:

<a href="home.html" aria-label="some text">home page</a>

Be wary of label in name issues

a without href no a without href is not a link and not exposed as a link. Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
abbr no title attribute works but announcement is a user preference in some screen readers (off by default). Refer to Short note: The abbreviation appreciation society
address no aria-label use not well supported
area with href no use alt
area without href no a without href is not a link and not exposed as a link. Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
article yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the article is navigated to.
aside yes Does not mask content. Accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the aside is navigated to.
audio yes Prefer visible, a heading perhaps (via aria-labelledby if you like)
b no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
base no not UI
bdi no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
bdo no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
blockquote no aria-label use not well supported
body no aria-label use not supported
br no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
button yes masks text content, so only aria-label is announced:

<button aria-label="some text">open</button>

Be wary of label in name issues

canvas no Use child content

<canvas><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8b7f0ivzUo">Pictures of Lily</a></p></canvas>

caption no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
cite no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
code no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
col no not UI
colgroup no not UI
data no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
datalist no For aria-label on <datalist> element itself.
dd no aria-label use not well supported
del no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
dfn no aria-label use not well supported
details yes Does not mask content: When details has an accessible name it is announced as a group along with its accessible name (test case).
dialog yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the dialog is navigated to.
div no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
dl yes Fairly good support across browsers/screenreaders.
dt no aria-label use not well supported
em no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
embed no aria-label use not well supported
fieldset yes aria-label overrides accessible name from legend content (if present). Otherwise, does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the fieldset is navigated to.
figcaption no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
figure yes aria-label overrides accessible name from figcaption content (if present). Otherwise, does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the figure is navigated to.
form yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the form is navigated to.
form-associated custom element yes Unless the custom element is an extension of a native HTML interactive element, ARIA labeling (aria-label, aria-labelledby) is the primary method of labeling.
h1 to h6 no aria-label use not well supported, works with NVDA/VoiceOver not with JAWS

Masks text content, so only aria-label is announced:

<h1 aria-label="PING">PONG</h1>

head no not UI
header yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the header is navigated to.
hgroup no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
hr yes Will generally be announced when the hr is navigated to.
html no not UI
i no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
iframe yes Use title attribute for accessible name
img with alt="some text" no Use alt attribute for accessible name
img with alt="" no use alt
img without alt attribute no if you want to add an accessible name to an <img> use alt attribute for accessible name
input type=button yes accessible name from value preferred
input type=checkbox yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=color yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=date yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=datetime-local yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=email yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=file yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=hidden no not UI
input type=image no if you want to add an accessible name to an <input type=image> use alt
input type=month yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=number yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=password yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=radio yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=range yes accessible name from value preferred
input type=reset yes accessible name from value preferred
input type=submit yes accessible name from value preferred
input type=tel yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=text yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=time yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=url yes accessible name from label preferred
input type=week yes accessible name from label preferred
ins no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
kbd no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
label no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed (until ARIA 1.3)
legend no aria-label use not well supported
li no aria-label use not well supported
main yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the main is navigated to.
map no not UI
math no The math element is not currently supported in modern browsers.
mark no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
menu no This element sucks in general, suggest not using.
meta no not UI
meter yes accessible name from label preferred
nav yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the nav is navigated to.
noscript no not UI
object no aria-label use not well supported
ol yes Fairly good support across browsers/screenreaders.
optgroup no Use label attribute
option no Use text content of option or use a label attribute.
output no aria-label use not supported
p no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
param no not UI
picture no not UI
pre no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
progress yes accessible name from label preferred or  a heading perhaps (via aria-labelledby if you like).
q no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
rp no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
rt no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
ruby no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
s no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
samp no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
script no not UI
section yes Does not mask content: accessible name provided via aria-label will generally be announced when the section is navigated to.
select yes accessible name from label preferred
slot no not UI
small no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
source no not UI
span no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
strong no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
style no not UI
SVG yes alt="some text" DOES NOT WORK even if the SVG (or any other element) has a role="img"
sub no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
summary no aria-label use not well supported
sup no refer to Roles which cannot be named (Name prohibited) ARIA 1.2
table yes Prefer visible caption element text
tbody no aria-label use not well supported
template no not UI
textarea yes accessible name from label preferred
tfoot no aria-label use not well supported
thead no aria-label use not well supported
time no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
title no aria-label use not supported
td no aria-label use not well supported
th no aria-label use not well supported
tr no aria-label use not well supported
track no not UI
u no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
ul yes Fairly good support across browsers/screenreaders.
var no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed
video yes Prefer visible, a heading perhaps (via aria-labelledby if you like)
wbr no Maps to role=generic naming not allowed

Thanks to @carmacleod for feedback.

13 replies on “Not so short note on aria-label usage – Big Table Edition”

Thank you for the article! I struggle with how to handle UI elements that use or include an abbreviation/acronym in the visible text. In such cases (e.g. UW–Madison instead of University of Wisconsin-Madison) I sometimes use aria-label to spell out the abbreviation or acronym but this results in a mismatch between the visible text and coded name. I generally stopped using or several years ago under the impression they were largely not implemented and/or used by users.

Do you have any advice for how to work with abbreviations or acronymns within UI text/labels? (For instances where they are unavoidable.)

Is an aria-label or a title attribute preferred for iframe? It currently says “yes” for aria-label, yet also “Use title attribute for accessible name”.

@Mitchell, It says use “Use title attribute for accessible name” While aria-label generally works and is allowed on <iframe> better to use title as it is the native and robustly supported method.

Re: “The math element is not currently supported in modern browsers.”

It has been supported in ALL modern browsers since January 2023 and everyone should feel encouraged to rely on tags nowadays.

But there is still no need for aria-label on elements. MathML 3 supports an “alttext” attribute, while MathML 4 is introducing a new “intent” attribute aimed at accessible readouts.

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