Blog
December 17, 2009
Accessibility Knowledge Series V – ARIA
Filed under: ARIA, Accessibility, Accessibility Knowledge Series — Priti Rohra @ 6:57 pmInformation on the web has become intuitive and users are no longer required to submit the data for further processing on the server in order to access the same. The web today includes features of an application and at the same time provides a platform for instant exchange of data, such as photographs, instant messaging, videos, music etc. In technical terms, it happens with the use of Ajax, JavaScript, RIA, DHTML or even a combination of all of them.
Ever thought, how would people with disabilities interact with such dynamic web content?
For example, how would a person using a keyboard carry out a drag-n-drop function? Or how would someone using a screen reader read the dynamically updating information on a web page?
In order to make the dynamic web content accessible for people with disabilities, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has laid down specification for Accessible Rich Internet Application (ARIA).
ARIA specification includes techniques to define Roles, States and Properties for different web elements which will make the information available to platform Application Programming Interface (API). Assistive Technologies and Browsers render the information through APIs and convey it to the users.
Some of the benefits of implementing ARIA include:
- Assistive technologies can identify the dynamically updating web page content and inform users about the same;
- Helps Assistive Technology to identify the type of different widgets/controls, such as drop-down menus, tree views, toolbar etc and inform users about the same;
- Keyboard access to different sections of a web page, such as search, navigation, main content, application, footer etc as well as interactive widgets/controls
The WAI-ARIA specification is still at a working draft stage and already user agents, such as web browsers and Assistive Technologies have started implementing the same.
Reference:
This Accessibility Knowledge Series has been provided by Priti Rohra, Senior Accessibility Consultant, BarrierBreak Technologies
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the author as an individual with interest in accessibility and assistive technology and do not claim to represent those of Techshare India, BarrierBreak Technologies or Net Systems Informatics.
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