What is WAI-ARIA?

This article is intended to help you understand WAI-ARIA.

What is WAI-ARIA?

WAI-ARIA, often referred as ARIA, is an abbreviation for Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite. In early 2014, WAI-ARIA became a completed World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. WAI-ARIA is a technical specification that specifies a way of making websites more accessible to people with disabilities. 

WAI-ARIA specifies certain attributes that can be added to a website’s HTML code to give information on how an element should be interpreted on a speech based interface, e.g. telling a screen reader that something is a button or a navigation area. WAI-ARIA especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with, for example, JavaScript.

 Does the Siteimprove's Accessibility module include WAI-ARIA checks?

Siteimprove checks for WAI-ARIA within the Accessibility module. The WAI-ARIA technical specification is a way to live up to WCAG 2 conformance levels to make a website accessible to people with disabilities.

NOTE: WAI-ARIA is not a self-contained technology, but is to be used to enhance other technologies.

Additional resources:

• Should I be Using WAI-ARIA?


• How do I know if my website is using WAI-ARIA and what does it check for?