ARIA

Extra labels you add to web elements so screen readers and assistive tools can understand what things do — like adding braille signs to doors.

A W3C specification that provides roles, states, and properties (aria-label, aria-expanded, role='dialog') to make dynamic web content accessible when native HTML semantics are insufficient.

WAI-ARIA 1.2 defines a contract between web content and the platform accessibility API (UIA, ATK, AX). The taxonomy of roles (widget, document-structure, landmark, live-region) constrains which aria-* attributes are valid per role. The first rule of ARIA is to prefer native HTML semantics — ARIA should supplement, not replace, correct element usage.