How to Use ARIA: A Beginner’s Guide to Web Accessibility

“ARIA isn’t magic. It’s markup with meaning.”

If you’ve ever tried to make your website more accessible and landed on a page filled with mysterious attributes like role="region" or aria-hidden="true", you're not alone.

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is powerful but it can be intimidating.
In this guide, you’ll get:

• A simple explanation of what ARIA is (and isn’t)

• 5 beginner-safe ways to use it

• Common mistakes to avoid

• Visuals and code snippets to help you get started

• A downloadable beginner’s checklist to test your site

Let’s make accessibility less overwhelming and more actionable.

What is ARIA?

ARIA is a set of attributes you can add to HTML to improve accessibility for users of assistive technologies like screen readers.

🧬 Think of ARIA as labels and roles that help assistive tools “see” what’s happening on your site.

• Use role, aria-label, aria-live, and other attributes

• Primarily used for dynamic content or custom components (e.g., modals, tabs, dropdowns)

⚠️ Warning: ARIA is powerful — but don’t use it unless native HTML doesn’t do the job.

When to Use (and Not Use) ARIA

✅ Use ARIA when:

• You’re building a custom component (modal, dropdown)

• Native HTML lacks semantic meaning (e.g., div used for a tab list)

❌ Avoid ARIA when:

• You can use native HTML (<button>, <nav>, <main>, etc.)

• You’re unsure what the ARIA role actually does

🧠 Rule #1 of ARIA: “No ARIA is better than bad ARIA.”

5 Beginner-Safe Ways to Use ARIA

Landmark Roles

Help screen readers navigate your layout.

<nav role="navigation">...</nav>
<main role="main">...</main>
<aside role="complementary">...</aside>

📍 Best for layout and page structure

ARIA Labels

Give elements accessible names.

<button aria-label="Open menu">☰</button>

🧠 Use when visible text isn’t descriptive enough

ARIA Live Regions

Announce dynamic updates like notifications or chat messages.

<div aria-live="polite">New message received</div>

🔔 Works best with form success, loading states, etc.

ARIA Hidden

Hide decorative or redundant elements from screen readers.

<span aria-hidden="true">★</span>

Only use this for purely visual elements

Toggle State Attributes

Let screen readers know when something is open/closed, on/off.

<button aria-pressed="true">Bold</button>

Common in toolbars, toggles, custom buttons

ARIA Mistakes to Avoid

• role="button" on <span> without keyboard support

• Redundant roles (e.g., role="main" on a <main>)

• Overusing aria-hidden="true" and hiding real content

• Using ARIA without testing it manually with a screen reader

Tools to Test Your ARIA Use

• 💻 Lighthouse (Chrome DevTools)

• 🧪 axe DevTools

• 🗣️ NVDA (Windows) or VoiceOver (Mac)

• ✅ Accessibility Tree Viewer (Chrome DevTools tab)

🔍 Tip: Always test with a screen reader if you’re implementing ARIA roles.

🙋 FAQ

Q: What does ARIA stand for?
A: Accessible Rich Internet Applications

Q: What’s the difference between HTML5 and ARIA?
A: HTML5 has semantic elements like <nav> and <main>. ARIA is a supplement when you need more precise structure.

Q: Should I add ARIA to everything?
A: No. Only use ARIA when native HTML doesn’t meet accessibility needs.

Q: How do I know ARIA is working?
A: Use tools like Lighthouse, or manually test with NVDA or VoiceOver.