Elements in the focus order should have an appropriate role

Rule ID: focus-order-semantics

Ruleset: axe-core 4.9

User Impact: Minor

Guidelines: Deque Best Practice

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Compliance Data & Impact

User Impact

Minor
▼

Minor

Critical

Disabilities Affected

Blind
Deafblind
Mobility

Standard(s)

Deque Best Practice

How to Fix the Problem

Ensure all elements in the focus order have an appropriate role attribute value, and if the element is a custom widget, that correspond to valid ARIA role attribute values are applied.

Ensure all device-independent user input methods have appropriate roles to enable interaction with form content.

When no role exists at all, when focusing on the element, the screen reader will not announce anything.

When an inappropriate role like paragraph is used for an interactive element, the element will not receive focus, and the screen reader will not announce anything.

If the role matches a list of roles that could be an interactive element (for example, button, text input, radio option, checkbox, etc.), if native HTML, no extra roles are required, but if it is a custom widget you need an aria role that makes sense, such as role="button".

If a screen reader user lands on the element and it has text, it will read the text, but the user will not know what the element is without an appropriate role.

Available roles by type are:

Landmark: article, banner, complementary, main, navigation, region, search, contentinfo
Widget: alert, alertdialog, application, dialog, group, log, marquee, menu, menubar, menuitem, menuitemcheckbox, menuitemradio, progressbar, separator, slider, spinbutton, status, tab, tablist, tabpanel, timer, toolbar, tooltip, tree, treegrid, treeitem
Pseudo HTML: button, button, checkbox, columnheader, combobox, contentinfo, form, grid, gridcell, heading, img, link, listbox, listitem, option, radio, radiogroup, row, rowgroup, rowheader, scrollbar, textbox, checkbox, columnheader, combobox, contentinfo, form, grid, gridcell, heading, img, link, listbox, listitem, option, radio, radiogroup, row, rowgroup, rowheader, scrollbar, textbox
Document: document (when creating a document region inside an other type of region)
Application: application (only around a widget to enable normal keyboard shortcuts for page content)
Presentation: presentation (to cancel the native role of the element)
Other Semantic: math, definition, note, directory
Abstract: command, composite, input, landmark, range, section, sectionhead, select, structure, widget

Why it Matters

Elements in the focus order need a role appropriate for interactive content so that screen reader technology can communicate that information to users.

If interactive content elements do not have appropriate roles, the role will not be able to perform the accessibility function intended by the developer.

When screen readers and other assistive technologies do not know the appropriate role of each element on the web page, they are not able to interact with it intelligently, nor are they able to communicate the role to the user. When the value for a role is not valid, there is no way the HTML element's set of features, properties, and methods of conveying information to and/or from the user can be communicated via assistive technologies.

Rule Description

User input elements must have appropriate roles, whether native HTML or a custom widget, to convey to screen reader users their meaning when landed on and given focus. If a custom widget, appropriate ARIA role values must be used instead of abstract roles to correctly expose the purpose of the element.

The Algorithm (in simple terms)

Checks all interactive elements in the focus order to ensure that the role attribute value is valid and appropriate, whether native HTML or a custom ARIA widget.