Deprecated ARIA roles must not be used

Rule ID: aria-deprecated-role
Ruleset: axe-core 4.9
User Impact: Minor
Guidelines: WCAG 2.1 (A), WCAG 2.0 (A), WCAG 2.2 (A), EN 301 549

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Compliance Data & Impact

User Impact

Minor
▼
Minor
Critical

Disabilities Affected

  • Blind
  • Deafblind
  • Mobility

Standard(s)

  • WCAG 2.1 (A)
  • WCAG 2.0 (A)
  • WCAG 2.2 (A)
  • EN 301 549

WCAG Success Criteria [WCAG 2.1 (A)]

  • 4.1.2: MUST: Name, Role, Value

WCAG Success Criteria [WCAG 2.0 (A)]

  • 4.1.2: MUST: Name, Role, Value

WCAG Success Criteria [WCAG 2.2 (A)]

  • 4.1.2: MUST: Name, Role, Value

EN 301 549 Guidelines

  • 9.4.1.2: MUST: Name, Role, Value

How to Fix the Problem

Ensure all values assigned to role="" correspond to WAI-ARIA roles that are not deprecated, or abstract. The following list indicates for each deprecated role a potential alternative that is better supported by assistive technologies:

  • directory: Consider using section, list, or tree instead. Which is most appropriate depends on how directory was used.

Why it Matters

Using deprecated WAI-ARIA roles is bad for accessibility. They will not be recognized or correctly processed by screen readers and other assistive technologies. Using these means not everyone will be able to access essential information.

Rule Description

Values assigned to ARIA role values must not be deprecated.

The Algorithm (in simple terms)

Check all elements containing WAI-ARIA role attribute to ensure that the role is not deprecated in the latest version of the WAI-ARIA specification.

Resources

Deque University Course Pages (subscription required)

Contribute to axe-core on GitHub

Other Resources

You may also want to check out these other resources.

Refer to the complete list of axe 4.9 rules.

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