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.

tooltip role (aria)

Screen Reader support level: partial (3/33)

On this page

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Failing or partial results may be out of date.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

What are expectations?

Screen Reader support by expectation

ExpectationJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
MUST convey its rolenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonesupported
MUST convey its namenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonesupported
MUST convey boundariesnonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonesupported
SHOULD expose the semantics of content if accessed directlysupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportednonesupportedsupportedsupported

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.
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its role'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named tooltip role applied to: div elementnonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonesupported

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
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its name'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named tooltip role applied to: div elementnonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonesupported

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".
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey boundaries'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named tooltip role applied to: div elementnonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonenonesupported

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
Screen Reader support for 'SHOULD expose the semantics of content if accessed directly'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
named tooltip role applied to: div elementsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportedsupportednonesupportedsupportedsupported