What is aria-label and how should I use it?
HtmlAssistive TechnologyHtml Problem Overview
A few hours ago I read about the aria-label attribute, which:
> Defines a string value that labels the current element.
But in my opinion this is what the title attribute was supposed to do. I looked further in the Mozilla Developer Network to get some examples and explanations, but the only thing I found was
<button aria-label="Close" onclick="myDialog.close()">X</button>
Which does not provide me with any label (so I assume I misunderstood the idea). I tried it here in jsfiddle.
So my question is: why do I need aria-label and how should I use it?
Html Solutions
Solution 1 - Html
It's an attribute designed to help assistive technology (e.g. screen readers) attach a label to an otherwise anonymous HTML element.
So there's the <label> element:
<label for="fmUserName">Your name</label>
<input id="fmUserName">
The <label> explicitly tells the user to type their name into the input box where id="fmUserName".
aria-label does much the same thing, but it's for those cases where it isn't practical or desirable to have a label on screen. Take the MDN example:
<button aria-label="Close" onclick="myDialog.close()">X</button>`
Most people would be able to infer visually that this button will close the dialog. A blind person using assistive technology might just hear "X" read aloud, which doesn't mean much without the visual clues. aria-label explicitly tells them what the button will do.
Solution 2 - Html
In the example you give, you're perfectly right, you have to set the title attribute.
If the aria-label is one tool used by assistive technologies (like screen readers), it is not natively supported on browsers and has no effect on them. It won't be of any help to most of the people targetted by the WCAG (except screen reader users), for instance a person with intellectal disabilities.
The "X" is not sufficient enough to give information to the action led by the button (think about someone with no computer knowledge). It might mean "close", "delete", "cancel", "reduce", a strange cross, a doodle, nothing.
Despite the fact that the W3C seems to promote the aria-label rather that the title attribute here: http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20140916/ARIA14 in a similar example, you can see that the technology support does not include standard browsers : http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/Techniques/ua-notes/aria#ARIA14
In fact aria-label, in this exact situation might be used to give more context to an action:
For instance, blind people do not perceive popups like those of us with good vision, it's like a change of context. "Back to the page" will be a more convenient alternative for a screen reader, when "Close" is more significant for someone with no screen reader.
<button
aria-label="Back to the page"
title="Close" onclick="myDialog.close()">X</button>
Solution 3 - Html
If you wants to know how aria-label helps you practically .. then follow the steps ... you will get it by your own ..
Create a html page having below code
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<button title="Close"> X </button>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<button aria-label="Back to the page" title="Close" > X </button>
</body>
</html>
Now, you need a virtual screen reader emulator which will run on browser to observe the difference. So, chrome browser users can install chromevox extension and mozilla users can go with fangs screen reader addin
Once done with installation, put headphones in your ears, open the html page and make focus on both button(by pressing tab) one-by-one .. and you can hear .. focusing on first x button .. will tell you only x button .. but in case of second x button .. you will hear back to the page button only..
i hope you got it well now!!
Solution 4 - Html
Prerequisite:
Aria is used to improve the user experience of visually impaired users. Visually impaired users navigate though application using screen reader software like JAWS, NVDA,.. While navigating through the application, screen reader software announces content to users. Aria can be used to add content in the code which helps screen reader users understand role, state, label and purpose of the control
Aria does not change anything visually. (Aria is scared of designers too).
aria-label
aria-label attribute is used to communicate the label to screen reader users. Usually search input field does not have visual label (thanks to designers). aria-label can be used to communicate the label of control to screen reader users
How To Use:
<input type="edit" aria-label="search" placeholder="search">
There is no visual change in application. But screen readers can understand the purpose of control
aria-labelledby
Both aria-label and aria-labelledby is used to communicate the label. But aria-labelledby can be used to reference any label already present in the page whereas aria-label is used to communicate the label which i not displayed visually
Approach 1:
<span id="sd">Search</span>
<input type="text" aria-labelledby="sd">
Approach 2:
aria-labelledby can also be used to combine two labels for screen reader users
<span id="de">Billing Address</span>
<span id="sd">First Name</span>
<input type="text" aria-labelledby="de sd">
Solution 5 - Html
The title attribute displays a tooltip when the mouse is hovering the element. While this is a great addition, it doesn't help people who cannot use the mouse (due to mobility disabilities) or people who can't see this tooltip (e.g.: people with visual disabilities or people who use a screen reader).
As such, the mindful approach here would be to serve all users. I would add both title and aria-label attributes (serving different types of users and different types of usage of the web).
Here's a good article that explains aria-label in depth
Solution 6 - Html
As a side answer it's worth to note that:
- ARIA is commonly used to improve the accessibility for screen readers. (not only but mostly atm.)
- Using ARIA does not necessarily make things better! Easily ARIA can lead to significantly worse accessibility if not implemented and tested properly. Don't use ARIA just to have some "cool things in the code" which you don't fully understand. Sadly too often ARIA implementations introduce more issues than solutions in terms of accessibility. This is rather common since sighted users and developers are less likely to put extra effort in extensive testing with screen readers while on the other hand ARIA specs and validators are currently far from perfect and even confusing in some cases. On top of that each browser and screen reader implement the ARIA support non-uniformly causing the major inconsistencies in the behavior. Often it's better idea to avoid ARIA completely when it's not clear exactly what it does, how it behaves and it won't be tested intensively with all screen readers and browsers (or at least the most common combinations). Disclaimer: My intention is not to disgrace ARIA but rather its bad ARIA implementations. In fact it's not so uncommon that HTML5 don't offer any other alternatives where implementing ARIA would bring significant benefits for the accessibility e.g.
aria-hiddenoraria-expanded. But only if implemented and tested properly!
Solution 7 - Html
I believe you should not use it at all unless you know what you are doing and you are going to check how it looks all over aria's supported devices. Don't bring a problem with the excuse of being a solution! people with disabilities will thank you