HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0

There are currently no deprecated requirements.

Where an HTML element or attribute has default WAI-ARIA semantics, it MUST be exposed to the platform accessibility APIs in a way that conforms to General rules for exposing WAI-ARIA semantics in the Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.2.

Where the host language is [HTML], user agents MUST conform to Conflicts between native markup semantics and WAI-ARIA in the Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.2.

HTML can include features that are not supported by accessibility APIs at the time of publication. There is not a one to one relationship between all features and platform accessibility APIs. When HTML roles, states and properties do not directly map to an accessibility API, and there is a method in the API to expose a text string, user agents MUST expose the undefined role, states and properties via that method.

For HTML elements or attributes with default WAI-ARIA semantics, user agents MUST conform to Exposing attributes that do not directly map to accessibility API properties in the [core-aam-1.2].

A minimum role is the equivalent WAI-ARIA role an element will map to if the element does not have a more specific implicit role or platform role mappings, e.g., a non-generic role. This can help ensure that users of assistive technologies get the best possible experience for commonly-used and valid HTML markup where otherwise a role would not be exposed.

A minimum role is provided when all of the following conditions are true:

• the author has not specified a valid explicit WAI-ARIA role to the element, or the specified role is either none, presentation, or generic;
• the element either has no implicit WAI-ARIA role or platform role mappings, or it has an implicit generic or none computed role;
• and the author has specified attributes which require a minimum role mapping for the element.

The HTML Attribute State and Property Mappings section identifies the specific global attributes which would require an element map to a minimum role.

When these conditions are met, the browser MUST expose an object using the mappings defined in CORE-AAM for the specified minimum role. If the element has multiple attributes specified which require a minimum role be returned as the computed role for the element, prioritize the more specific role in the ARIA taxonomy.

• HTML elements with implicit WAI-ARIA role semantics MUST be mapped to platform accessibility APIs according to the identified WAI-ARIA role mapping as defined in the [core-aam-1.2] specification.
• "Not mapped" means the element does not need to be exposed via an accessibility API. This is usually because the element is not displayed as part of the user interface. However, authors can force some of these elements to be rendered. For instance, by overriding user agent styles to render elements that would have been otherwise set to display: none. In these cases, the user agent SHOULD map such elements to the role of generic, unless other HTML features have been specified which would require a more specific minimum role to be exposed.
• Where an element is indicated as having "No corresponding (WAI-ARIA) role", or is mapped to the generic role, user agents MUST NOT expose the aria-roledescription property value in the accessibility tree unless the element has an explicit, conforming role attribute value which [WAI-ARIA-1.2] does not prohibit the use of aria-roledescription.
• Some HTML elements expose implicit WAI-ARIA roles depending on whether they have been provided an accessible name. How an element participates in the computation of its own or another element's accessible name and/or accessible description is described in the Accessible Name and Description Computation section of this document.