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ARIA Authoring Practices Guide

ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG) Home

Learn to use the accessibility semantics defined by the Accessible Rich Internet Application (ARIA) specification to create accessible web experiences. This guide describes how to apply accessibility semantics to common design patterns and widgets. It provides design patterns and functional examples complemented by in-depth guidance for fundamental practices.

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APG Resources

Building blocks that help you make the web accessible

Design Patterns and Examples

Learn how to make accessible web components and widgets with ARIA roles, states and properties and by implementing keyboard support. One or more ways of implementing each pattern is demonstrated with a functional example.

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Use ARIA Landmarks

Learn how to use HTML sectioning elements and ARIA landmark roles to make it easy for assistive technology users to understand the meaning of the layout of a page.

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Providing Accessible Names and Descriptions

Providing elements with accessible names and, where appropriate, accessible descriptions is one of the most important responsibilities authors have when developing accessible web experiences.

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And So Much More...

Learn about other fundamental practices related to correctly using accessibility semantics, developing keyboard interfaces, and more.

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Get Involved

The APG Task Force relies on broad community representation and participation to continuously improve the usefulness and quality of the APG. There are a variety of ways you can get involved and help promote development of accessible experiences.

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Join the Task Force

To join the APG Task Force, individuals need to first join the W3C ARIA Working Group. Participants are expected to actively contribute to the work of the task force.

Learn more about the work of the task force and how to join
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Contribute via GitHub

Many valuable contributions are made by people who find or raise issues of interest in our GitHub repository and then submit proposed changes via a GitHub pull request. If you choose this path, please start by studying our guidelines for contributing to the repository and maintaining code quality.

View ReadMe in the GitHub repository
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Mailing Lists

The APG Task Force uses the public aria-practices mailing list for email discussion. Meeting announcements, agendas, and links to minutes are sent to the mailing list. While GitHub issues are the preferred place to discuss APG content, the mailing list is available to anyone who would prefer to communicate with the APG Task Force via email.

View the aria-practices mailing list archive

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This is an unpublished draft preview that might include content that is not yet approved. The published website is at w3.org/WAI/.