Important: This website does not attempt to establish a standard for how assistive technologies must behave. Read the FAQ for more information. Additionally, this is a work in progress. Please submit feedback or suggestions.

listbox role (aria)

Screen Reader support level: partial (21/22)

Voice Control support level: unknown

On this page

About this feature

A widget that allows the user to select one or more items from a list of choices. See related combobox and list.

Age of results

Results across all tests for this feature range from a year ago to 4 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Failing or partial results may be out of date.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 a year 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 namesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupported
MUST convey its rolesupportedsupportedsupportednonesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupported
SHOULD convey its boundariessupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportednone

Voice Control support by expectation

ExpectationDragon Naturally SpeakingVoice Access (Android)Voice Control (iOS)Voice Control (MacOS)Windows Speech RecognitionWindows Voice Access
ChromeChromeSafariSafariEdgeChromeEdgeChrome
Not applicable

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

Examples:

  • A screen reader might convey the name when entering the listbox
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its name'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
APG Editable Combobox With List Autocomplete Examplesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupported

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 explicitly convey the role as something like "list box", "list", or imply it by explicitly conveying "option" roles
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its role'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
APG Editable Combobox With List Autocomplete Examplesupportedsupportedsupportednonesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupported

Expectation: convey its boundaries

Rationale:

The user needs to know when they enter and leave the listbox.

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

  • Screen Readers: SHOULD
  • Voice Control: NA

Examples:

  • A screen reader might convey the listbox name and role when entering, and something like "out of list" when exiting
  • A screen reader might convey information about the position in the options, such as "4 of 4" to indicate the start and end of the options
Screen Reader support for 'SHOULD convey its boundaries'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
APG Editable Combobox With List Autocomplete Examplesupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportednone
TestLast update
APG Editable Combobox With List Autocomplete Example2023-08-22

Is something not right?

We use our GitHub repository to manage our issue tracking. Please provide as much information as you can for issues, and please leave the id in the issue title intact.

Create an issue for this feature