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complementary role (aria)

Screen Reader support level: partial (46/55)

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About this feature

A supporting section of the document, designed to be complementary to the main content at a similar level in the DOM hierarchy, but remains meaningful when separated from the main content.

Age of results

Results across all tests for this feature range from 3 years ago to 3 years ago. Detailed dates and version information can be found in associated tests.

Caution

Failing or partial results may be out of date. The oldest result is from 3 years ago. Consider running the associated tests and contributing results.

Expectations

What are expectations?

Screen Reader support by expectation

ExpectationJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
MUST convey its rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupported*supportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported
MUST convey its namesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported
MUST convey the boundaries of the elementsupportedsupportedsupportedpartialsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownnonesupportedsupported
SHOULD provide shortcuts to jump to this rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported

* means that some support is hidden behind settings

Expectation: convey its role

Rationale:

A screen reader user needs to know how they can interact with the element. Voice control software might use the role to help users activate controls that do not have a visible name.

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

  • Screen Readers: MUST
  • Voice Control: NA

Examples:

  • A screen reader might announce an element as something like "<name>, <role>"
  • A screen reader might imply the role by the presence of certain context roles
  • Voice Control software might let the user say something like "click, <role>".
  • Voice Control software might let the user say something like "show numbers", and interactive roles will be flagged with numbers.
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its role'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupported*supportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported
unnamed complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported

* means that some support is hidden behind settings

Expectation: convey its name

Rationale:

A screen reader user needs to know what to enter.

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

  • Screen Readers: MUST
  • Voice Control: NA
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its name'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported

Expectation: convey the boundaries of the element

Rationale:

A user needs to know when they enter and exit an element

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

  • Screen Readers: MUST
  • Voice Control: NA

Examples:

  • A screen reader might announce the role of the element when entering and say something like "leaving" when exiting.
  • A screen reader might not explicitly announce entering and existing the element, but instead imply that the is in the containing object by conveying the roles of required children (options in a listbox for example).
  • A screen reader might announce position in set information such as "1 of 6".
  • A screen reader might not convey boundaries if the content fits on a single line
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey the boundaries of the element'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedpartialsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownnonesupportedsupported
unnamed complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedpartialsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownnonesupportedsupported

Expectation: provide shortcuts to jump to this role

Rationale:

Screen reader users might want to quickly navigate to elements of this type.

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

  • Screen Readers: SHOULD
  • Voice Control: NA
Screen Reader support for 'SHOULD provide shortcuts to jump to this role'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported
unnamed complementary rolesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedunknownsupportedsupportedsupported
TestLast update
named complementary role2022-01-26
unnamed complementary role2022-01-26

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