ARIA Patterns Guide

Overview

Implement accessible interactive components using correct ARIA roles, states, and properties. Provides copy-paste patterns for common widgets that work with screen readers and keyboard navigation.

When to Use

• Building custom interactive components
• Making dynamic content accessible
• Fixing screen reader issues
• Adding keyboard support to custom widgets

Quick Reference: First Rules of ARIA

1. Don't use ARIA if native HTML works - <button> over <div role="button">
2. Don't change native semantics - Don't put role="button" on a heading
3. All interactive ARIA elements must be keyboard accessible
4. Don't use role="presentation" or aria-hidden="true" on focusable elements
5. All interactive elements must have accessible names

The Process

1. Identify component type: What widget pattern matches?
2. Check native HTML first: Can a semantic element do this?
3. Apply ARIA pattern: Roles, states, properties
4. Add keyboard support: Expected keys for the pattern
5. Test with screen reader: Verify announcements

Component Patterns

Button

Native (preferred):

<button type="button">Click me</button>

Custom (when necessary):

<div
  role="button"
  tabindex="0"
  aria-pressed="false"
  onkeydown="handleKeyDown(event)"
>
  Toggle
</div>

<script>
function handleKeyDown(e) {
  if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') {
    e.preventDefault();
    e.target.click();
  }
}
</script>

Toggle Button

<button
  type="button"
  aria-pressed="false"
  onclick="this.setAttribute('aria-pressed', this.getAttribute('aria-pressed') === 'true' ? 'false' : 'true')"
>
  <span class="sr-only">Enable</span> Dark Mode
</button>

Modal Dialog

<div
  role="dialog"
  aria-modal="true"
  aria-labelledby="modal-title"
  aria-describedby="modal-desc"
>
  <h2 id="modal-title">Confirm Action</h2>
  <p id="modal-desc">Are you sure you want to proceed?</p>

  <button type="button">Cancel</button>
  <button type="button">Confirm</button>
</div>

Required behavior:

• Focus moves to dialog on open
• Focus trapped within dialog
• Escape key closes dialog
• Focus returns to trigger on close

// Focus trap example
function trapFocus(dialog) {
  const focusable = dialog.querySelectorAll(
    'button, [href], input, select, textarea, [tabindex]:not([tabindex="-1"])'
  );
  const first = focusable[0];
  const last = focusable[focusable.length - 1];

  dialog.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
    if (e.key === 'Tab') {
      if (e.shiftKey && document.activeElement === first) {
        e.preventDefault();
        last.focus();
      } else if (!e.shiftKey && document.activeElement === last) {
        e.preventDefault();
        first.focus();
      }
    }
  });
}

Dropdown Menu

<div class="dropdown">
  <button
    type="button"
    aria-haspopup="menu"
    aria-expanded="false"
    aria-controls="dropdown-menu"
    id="dropdown-trigger"
  >
    Options
  </button>

  <ul
    role="menu"
    id="dropdown-menu"
    aria-labelledby="dropdown-trigger"
    hidden
  >
    <li role="none">
      <button role="menuitem" tabindex="-1">Edit</button>
    </li>
    <li role="none">
      <button role="menuitem" tabindex="-1">Duplicate</button>
    </li>
    <li role="none">
      <button role="menuitem" tabindex="-1">Delete</button>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div>

Keyboard:

• Enter/Space: Open menu, activate item
• Arrow Down: Next item (or first if closed)
• Arrow Up: Previous item
• Escape: Close menu
• Home: First item
• End: Last item

Tabs

<div class="tabs">
  <div role="tablist" aria-label="Account settings">
    <button
      role="tab"
      aria-selected="true"
      aria-controls="panel-1"
      id="tab-1"
      tabindex="0"
    >
      Profile
    </button>
    <button
      role="tab"
      aria-selected="false"
      aria-controls="panel-2"
      id="tab-2"
      tabindex="-1"
    >
      Security
    </button>
    <button
      role="tab"
      aria-selected="false"
      aria-controls="panel-3"
      id="tab-3"
      tabindex="-1"
    >
      Billing
    </button>
  </div>

  <div role="tabpanel" id="panel-1" aria-labelledby="tab-1" tabindex="0">
    Profile content...
  </div>
  <div role="tabpanel" id="panel-2" aria-labelledby="tab-2" tabindex="0" hidden>
    Security content...
  </div>
  <div role="tabpanel" id="panel-3" aria-labelledby="tab-3" tabindex="0" hidden>
    Billing content...
  </div>
</div>

Keyboard:

• Arrow Left/Right: Move between tabs
• Home: First tab
• End: Last tab
• Tab: Move into panel content

Accordion

<div class="accordion">
  <h3>
    <button
      type="button"
      aria-expanded="true"
      aria-controls="section-1"
      id="accordion-header-1"
    >
      Section 1
    </button>
  </h3>
  <div
    role="region"
    id="section-1"
    aria-labelledby="accordion-header-1"
  >
    Section 1 content...
  </div>

  <h3>
    <button
      type="button"
      aria-expanded="false"
      aria-controls="section-2"
      id="accordion-header-2"
    >
      Section 2
    </button>
  </h3>
  <div
    role="region"
    id="section-2"
    aria-labelledby="accordion-header-2"
    hidden
  >
    Section 2 content...
  </div>
</div>

Tooltip

<button
  type="button"
  aria-describedby="tooltip-1"
>
  Help
</button>

<div
  role="tooltip"
  id="tooltip-1"
  hidden
>
  Click here for more information
</div>

Note: For interactive content, use a disclosure or dialog instead.

Alert / Status Messages

<!-- Alert (important, interruptive) -->
<div role="alert">
  Error: Please enter a valid email address.
</div>

<!-- Status (polite update) -->
<div role="status" aria-live="polite">
  3 items in cart
</div>

<!-- Live region (for dynamic content) -->
<div aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true">
  <!-- Content updates announced to screen readers -->
</div>

Combobox (Autocomplete)

<div class="combobox">
  <label for="search-input">Search</label>
  <input
    type="text"
    id="search-input"
    role="combobox"
    aria-autocomplete="list"
    aria-expanded="false"
    aria-controls="search-listbox"
    aria-activedescendant=""
  >

  <ul
    role="listbox"
    id="search-listbox"
    hidden
  >
    <li role="option" id="option-1">Option 1</li>
    <li role="option" id="option-2">Option 2</li>
    <li role="option" id="option-3" aria-selected="true">Option 3</li>
  </ul>
</div>

Update aria-activedescendant to the ID of the highlighted option.

Progress / Loading

<!-- Determinate progress -->
<div
  role="progressbar"
  aria-valuenow="75"
  aria-valuemin="0"
  aria-valuemax="100"
  aria-label="Upload progress"
>
  75%
</div>

<!-- Indeterminate loading -->
<div
  role="status"
  aria-label="Loading"
>
  <span class="spinner" aria-hidden="true"></span>
  <span class="sr-only">Loading...</span>
</div>

Common ARIA Attributes

Screen Reader Only Text

.sr-only {
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  padding: 0;
  margin: -1px;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
  white-space: nowrap;
  border-width: 0;
}

Testing

1. Keyboard only: Tab through, use arrows, Enter, Escape
2. Screen reader: Test with VoiceOver (Mac), NVDA (Windows), or JAWS
3. Check announcements: Are labels, states, and changes announced?
4. axe DevTools: Run automated accessibility audit