tooltip role (aria)
Screen Reader support level: partial (3/33)
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About this feature
A contextual popup that displays a description for an element. The tooltip is typically referenced via an aria-describedby relationship.
Recommendation: Avoid using the tooltip role. The role currently provides little value beyond the typical aria-describedby relationship used to define a tooltip. If the tooltip content contains structure or semantics, it may, in theory, be helpful to use the tooltip role to define the tooltip boundary and differentiate it from surrounding content. However, that expectation has little support. Additionally, there is little consensus on how the tooltip role should be supported and it's unclear if, when, or how expectations and support may evolve.
Age of results
Results across all tests for this feature range from 2 years ago to 2 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Failing or partial results may be out of date.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 2 years ago. Consider running the associated tests and contributing results.
Expectations
Screen Reader support by expectation
| Expectation | JAWS | Narrator | NVDA | Orca | TalkBack | VoiceOver (iOS) | VoiceOver (macOS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Edge | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Firefox | Chrome | Safari | Safari | |
| MUST convey its role | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | supported |
| MUST convey its name | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | supported |
| MUST convey boundaries | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | none | supported |
| SHOULD expose the semantics of content if accessed directly | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | none | supported | supported | supported |
Expectation: convey its role
Rationale:
Users need to be aware of the tooltip context if the tooltip contains structured or interactive content
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.
Expectation: convey its name
Rationale:
It's unclear why a name is required, except that the AIRA spec requires it.
Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:
- Screen Readers: MUST
- Voice Control: NA
Expectation: convey boundaries
Rationale:
Users need to know when they enter and exit a tooltip so that they can differentiate it from surrounding content.
Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:
- Screen Readers: MUST
- Voice Control: NA
Examples:
- Screen readers might announce the starting boundary by conveying the role.
- Screen readers might announce the ending boundary by conveying something like "leaving tooltip".
Expectation: expose the semantics of content if accessed directly
Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:
- Screen Readers: SHOULD
- Voice Control: NA
| Test | JAWS | Narrator | NVDA | Orca | TalkBack | VoiceOver (iOS) | VoiceOver (macOS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Edge | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Firefox | Chrome | Safari | Safari | |
| named tooltip role applied to: div element | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | none | supported | supported | supported |