ARIA: When to Use It and When Not To
ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is a set of extra HTML attributes that describe roles, states and properties to assistive technology. It exists to fill gaps that plain HTML cannot, particularly in complex interactive components.
ARIA is powerful but easy to misuse. The golden rule among accessibility specialists is simple: no ARIA is better than bad ARIA.
Use Native HTML First
Standard elements like buttons, links and form inputs come with accessibility built in. Reaching for them first means you often need no ARIA at all.
When ARIA Earns Its Place
ARIA is valuable for custom widgets and dynamic updates that HTML alone cannot describe.
- Announcing content that changes without a page reload.
- Describing custom components such as tabs or accordions.
- Communicating states like expanded, selected or busy.
How We Keep It Safe
We add ARIA sparingly and always test it with a real screen reader, because an incorrect role can make a page less usable than no ARIA at all.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.