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optgroup element (html)

Screen Reader support level: partial (7/33)

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About this feature

The optgroup element represents a group of option elements with a common label.

Age of results

Results across all tests for this feature range from a year ago to 5 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Failing or partial results may be out of date.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 rolenonenonenonenonenonenonesupportednonenonesupportednone
MUST convey its namenonenonenonenonenonenonesupportednonesupportedsupportedsupported
MUST convey the boundaries of the elementnonenonenonenonenonenonesupportednonenonenonenone

Expectation: convey its role

Rationale:

A screen reader user needs to know that options are in a group.

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

  • Screen Readers: MUST
  • Voice Control: NA

Examples:

  • A screen reader might convey the group role.
Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its role'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
HTML select element testnonenonenonenonenonenonesupportednonenonesupportednone

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

Notes:

For form inputs - commands to read line by line (down and up arrows in most windows screen readers) will not always result in the name being explicitly conveyed when the virtual focus is moved to an input where the label is visually displayed and programmatically associated with the input. This is acceptable because the name is implied by the fact that it should be naturally found in the reading order. Some screen readers choose to not convey the name in these cases, likely in an effort to reduce verbosity.

Screen Reader support for 'MUST convey its name'
TestJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)
ChromeEdgeFirefoxEdgeChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefoxChromeSafariSafari
HTML select element testnonenonenonenonenonenonesupportednonesupportedsupportedsupported

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
HTML select element testnonenonenonenonenonenonesupportednonenonenonenone

Related features

These are features that are usually used in combination with this feature.

select element (html)

DragonJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoice AccessVC iOSVC MacOSVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)Speech RecognitionWindows Voice AccessWindowsMaciOSAndroid Keyboard
supported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultpartial (2/5)partial (1/3)supported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultpartial (3/5)supported with 1 unknown resultunknownunknownunknownunknownunknown

We are missing data on some combinations.

option element (html)

DragonJAWSNarratorNVDAOrcaTalkBackVoice AccessVC iOSVC MacOSVoiceOver (iOS)VoiceOver (macOS)Speech RecognitionWindows Voice AccessWindowsMaciOSAndroid Keyboard
partial (1/6)supported with 1 unknown resultpartial (4/6)partial (14/16)partial (3/6)supported with 1 unknown resultsupported with 1 unknown resultno known supportpartial (2/6)partial (4/6)partial (2/6)partial (4/10)unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown

We are missing data on some combinations.