ARIA Role Categories

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WAI ARIA release history

• WAI ARIA 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation in March 2014.
• WAI ARIA 1.1 became a W3C Recommendation in December 2017.
• WAI ARIA 1.2 became a candidate Recommendation as of 02 March 2021.

What are ARIA roles?

ARIA roles are HTML attributes that are added to elements using:

role="[role-type]"

ARIA roles can be used to add or change the semantic meaning of HTML elements in the accessibility tree. For example:

• Is the element a menu?
• Is the element a slider?
• Is the element a spinner?
• Is the element a progress bar?
• Is the element a menu?

Changes to role categories

When WAI ARIA 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation, there were four role categories.

1. Abstract Roles
2. Widget Roles and Widget Containers
3. Document Structure Roles
4. Landmark Roles

When WAI ARIA 1.1 became a W3C Recommendation, some additional categories were introduced, which meant that some roles were moved to new categories.

1. Abstract Roles
2. Widget Roles
3. Widget container Roles
4. Document Structure Roles
5. Landmark Roles
6. Live Region Roles
7. Window Roles

Abstract roles

Abstract roles are used for the ontology. Authors MUST NOT use abstract roles in content.

Abstract roles	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
command	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
composite	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
input	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
landmark	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
range	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
roletype	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
section	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
sectionhead	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
select	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
structure	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
widget	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract
Window	Abstract	Abstract	Abstract

Widget roles

The following roles act as standalone user interface widgets or as part of larger, composite widgets.

Widget role	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
button	Widget	Widget	Widget
checkbox	Widget	Widget	Widget
gridcell	Widget	Widget	Widget
link	Widget	Widget	Widget
menuitem	Widget	Widget	Widget
menuitemcheckbox	Widget	Widget	Widget
menuitemradio	Widget	Widget	Widget
option	Widget	Widget	Widget
progressbar	Widget	Widget	Widget
radio	Widget	Widget	Widget
scrollbar	Widget	Widget	Widget
searchbox	N/A	Widget NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Widget
slider	N/A	Widget NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Widget
spinbutton	N/A	Widge NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Widget
switch	N/A	Widge NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Widget
tab	Widget	Widget	Widget
tabpanel	Widget	Widget	Widget
textbox	Widget	Widget	Widget
treeitem	Widget	Widget	Widget

Widget container roles

The following roles act as composite user interface widgets. These roles typically act as containers that manage other, contained widgets.

Widget container roles	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
combobox	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
grid	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
listbox	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
menu	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
menubar	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
radiogroup	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
tablist	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
tree	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container
treegrid	Widget Container	Widget Container	Widget Container

Document roles

The following roles describe structures that organize content in a page. Document structures are not usually interactive.

ARIA role	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
application	Landmark	Document CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Document
article	Document	Document	Document
blockquote	N/A	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.2
caption	N/A	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.2
cell	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Document
columnheader	Document	Document	Document
definition	Document	Document	Document
directory	Document	Document	Document
document	Document	Document	Document
feed	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Document
figure	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Document
group	Document	Document	Document
heading	Document	Document	Document
img	Document	Document	Document
list	Document	Document	Document
listitem	Document	Document	Document
math	Document	Document	Document
none	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Document
note	Document	Document	Document
paragraph	N/A	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.2
presentation	Document	Document	Document
row	Document	Document	Document
rowgroup	Document	Document	Document
rowheader	Document	Document	Document
separator	Document	Document	Document
table	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Document
term	N/A	Document NEW- Added in ARIA 1.1	Document
toolbar	Document	Document	Document
tooltip	Widget	Document CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Document

Landmark roles

The following roles are regions of the page intended as navigational landmarks. All of these roles inherit from the landmark base type and all are imported from the Role Attribute [role-attribute].

ARIA role	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
banner	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark
complementary	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark
contentinfo	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark
form	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark
main	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark
navigation	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark
region	Document	Landmark	Landmark
search	Landmark	Landmark	Landmark

Live region roles

The following roles are live regions and may be modified by live region attributes.

Live region roles	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
alert	Widget	Live Region CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Live Region
log	Widget	Live Region CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Live Region
marquee	Widget	Live Region CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Live Region
status	Widget	Live Region CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Live Region
timer	Widget	Live Region CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Live Region

Window roles

The following roles act as windows within the browser or application.

Window roles	ARIA 1.0	ARIA 1.1	ARIA 1.2
alertdialog	Widget	Window CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Window
dialog	Widget	Window CHANGED- Changed in ARIA 1.1	Window

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