option element (html)

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: MUST

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.

Examples:

• A screen reader will announce the name of the option (if present) in addition to the value.
• Voice control software will let the user say something like "choose <name>" after saying something like "show choices" to pick the option.

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: MUST

Examples:

• A screen reader might announce "option" as the role.
• A screen reader might not announce a role because the role is implied by the role of a select element, combo box, or listbox.
• A screen reader might not announce a role because the role is implied by the announcement of auto complete or suggestions.
• Voice control software will let the user say something like "move down <n>" or "move up <n>" to select an option.

Expectation: convey the value of the option when used in a datalist context

Rationale:

When in a datalist context, both the name and value are displayed, so the user needs to be aware of both.

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

• Screen Readers: MUST
• Voice Control: MUST

Examples:

• A screen reader will announce the value of the option in addition to the name.
• Voice control software will let the user say something like "choose <value>" to pick an option.

Expectation: convey information about the position the option in the list

Rationale:

When user should be able to determine how many options are in the list and where they are in the list

Strength of this expectation for different types of assistive technologies:

• Screen Readers: MAY
• Voice Control: NA

Examples:

• A screen reader might announce "choose <2 of 10>" when navigating through a list of options