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Accessibility Aria Patterns Textbook

A free, self-paced textbook in 8 chapters. Read a chapter, then drill it with the 120 companion flashcards using spaced repetition.

8 chapters · 120 cards · Updated

Chapters

  1. 1Foundations of Web Accessibility

    Web accessibility, often abbreviated "a11y" (a numeronym formed by "a" + 11 letters + "y"), refers to the practice of designing and developing websites so that people with disabili...

  2. 2ARIA Fundamentals

    The Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) specification defines a set of roles, states, and properties that developers can add to HTML elements to make web content and appli...

  3. 3Keyboard Interaction and Focus

    Many users, including those who are blind or have motor impairments, navigate the web primarily with a keyboard, so keyboard interaction and focus management are central to accessi...

  4. 4Live Regions and Modal Dialogs

    Modern web applications update content dynamically without a page reload, and assistive technology users need to be informed of those changes. The aria-live attribute marks a regio...

  5. 5Common Widget Patterns

    ARIA provides patterns for many common interactive widgets. The disclosure pattern pairs a button with aria-expanded (and often aria-controls pointing to the region's id) to contro...

  6. 6Forms, Buttons, and Controls

    Form controls need to be properly labeled so users understand their purpose. Associating a label with a form control is best done using `` or by wrapping the input inside a ``; thi...

  7. 7Content Semantics and Structure

    Images require thoughtful alternative text so that screen-reader users receive equivalent information. The "alt attribute decision tree" guides choices: a purely decorative image s...

  8. 8Advanced Patterns and Practices

    Several ARIA attributes help users orient themselves within sets of related content. aria-current indicates that an element represents the current item in a set, accepting values l...

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