ARIA – A Beginners Guide

ARIA stands for Accessible Rich Internet Application. ARIA was designed to make Web content and dynamic applications accessible to disabled people – by providing a list of new attributes that can be added to HTML elements.

These attributes are understood by browsers and assistive technology – adding functionality to help make web content more accessible.

Here are some ways that ARIA makes websites more accessible

• The role attribute is used to add ‘landmarks’ to different sections of a web page. These landmarks allow screen readers users to quickly jump from section to section. JAWS, for example, uses the semi-colon key to navigate through landmarks.