Interop 2024: Chrome at 100% for the accessibility focus area

Chrome started nan twelvemonth passing 88.2% of tests successful nan accessibility attraction area of Interop 2024. In June 2024 we were first to reach 100% of tests passing. This station explains nan activity that happened to reach this goal.

What is included successful nan accessibility attraction area?

As pinch each attraction area successful Interop 2024, nan accessibility area is defined by a set of web level tests for selected features. The tests successful Interop 2024 aim to guarantee each browsers create accessible names and computed roles successful nan same way.

Accessible names convey nan intent aliases intent of an HTML element. This helps users understand what nan constituent is for and really they tin interact pinch it. The accname specification defines really browsers create this accessible sanction drawstring for an element. The ARIA specification includes a walkthrough of really this sanction is calculated.

The computed domiciled of an constituent is simply a drawstring that represents nan domiciled of the element arsenic computed by nan browser engine. This is utilized chiefly successful developer tools and, for example, successful nan WebDriver usability getComputedRole, enabling interoperability testing.

What did nan Chrome squad request to do?

There were 2 larger areas of activity that we needed to complete—changing mapping of roles to generic roles and removing deprecated roles. Then location were some additional smaller fixes and features to implement. In summation to nan following work that nan Chrome squad completed, we besides collaborated pinch Microsoft on fixes they were committing to Chromium for nan accessibility attraction area.

Change mapping for definite roles to a generic role

Changing a mapping to generic domiciled removes accessibility semantics from an element. Generic elements don't supply worth to an accessibility tree, truthful they are not included successful nan tree. This helps pinch capacity and makes nan tree smaller and easier to parse for assistive technology. The pursuing roles are changed to a generic role.

• A <header> scoped to <main> aliases a sectioning contented constituent (<article>, <aside>, <nav>, aliases <section>).
• A <footer> scoped to <main> aliases a sectioning contented constituent (<article>, <aside>, <nav>, aliases <section>).
• An <aside> wrong a sectioning contented constituent (<article>, <aside>, <nav>, or <section>) without an accessible name.
• A <section> without an accessible name.
• Orphaned database items (<li>).

For nan first 4 slug points, typically these elements are mapped to landmark roles. Having 2 galore landmarks connected a page tin make it harder to navigate, truthful this change helps trim redundant landmarks making nan page easier to navigate. The final point typically indicates a correction by nan page developer, a database item should ever beryllium wrong a list, truthful an orphaned point is fixed a generic role.

Remove a deprecated role

We deprecated nan directory role, and mapped it to nan database role. ARIA 1.2 deprecates nan directory role. The specification explains that it is balanced to nan database role, and the developers should usage list. In bid to support nan semantics of older content that uses directory, it's now mapped to database successful Chrome.

Other fixes

We added support for the gridcell role. This caller domiciled makes nan favoritism betwixt gridcell and cell more clear. A gridcell is focusable, editable, and selectable, dissimilar cell.

We added fallback domiciled calculation. Previously, we did not cheque for fallback roles truthful if nan first domiciled was not valid, we utilized different role, which is not what is detailed in nan specification.

Some roles are only valid if they are successful nan correct context, we added a check for invalid usage of roles, arsenic follows:

• The statement domiciled should beryllium wrong table, grid, rowgroup, aliases treegrid.
• The rowgroup domiciled should beryllium wrong table, grid, tree, aliases treegrid.
• The listitem domiciled should beryllium wrong list.

If nan domiciled is invalid Chrome now uses different information, specified arsenic nan HTML element, to compute an replacement role.

We marked thead and tfooter arsenic included successful nan accessibility tree. Previously they were marked arsenic ignored, but were still included successful nan tree. Now table header and array footers tin beryllium parsed by assistive technologies.

While these changes whitethorn not beryllium visible to astir developers, pinch each browsers working to guarantee these things activity successful nan aforesaid way, we guarantee that different roles are exposed successful nan aforesaid measurement everywhere.