The role taxonomy
102 rolesWAI-ARIA as the typed inheritance hierarchy it actually is.
The finding. Fifty-six concrete roles describe structure; twenty-three describe widgets. ARIA is a document ontology that happens to contain controls — not, as most designers meet it, a toolkit for making custom widgets accessible. Twelve roles are abstract and authors are forbidden to use them at all.
Branch
Usable?
| Role | What it is | Branch | Superclass |
|---|---|---|---|
| img | A container for a collection of [=elements=] that form an image. See synonym image. | — | — |
| presentation | An element whose implicit native role semantics will not be mapped to the accessibility API. See synonym none. | — | — |
| roletype abstract | The base role from which all other roles inherit. | — | — |
| structure abstract | A document structural element. | structure | roletype |
| widget abstract | An interactive component of a graphical user interface (GUI). | widget | roletype |
| window abstract | A browser or application window. | window | roletype |
| application | A structure containing one or more focusable elements requiring user input, such as keyboard or gesture events, that do not follow a standard interaction pattern supported by a widget role. | structure | structure |
| command abstract | A form of widget that performs an action but does not receive input data. | widget | widget |
| composite abstract | A widget that can contain navigable accessibility descendants. | widget | widget |
| dialog | A dialog is a descendant window of the primary window of a web application. For HTML pages, the primary application window is the entire web document. | window | window |
| document | An element containing content that assistive technology users might want to browse in a reading mode. | structure | structure |
| generic | A nameless container element that has no semantic meaning on its own. | structure | structure |
| gridcell | A cell in a grid or treegrid. | structure | cell, widget |
| input abstract | A generic type of widget that allows user input. | widget | widget |
| none | An element whose implicit native role semantics will not be mapped to the accessibility API. See synonym presentation. | structure | structure |
| progressbar | An element that displays the progress status for tasks that take a long time. | structure | range, widget |
| range abstract | An element representing a range of values. | structure | structure |
| row | A row of cells in a tabular container. | structure | group, widget |
| rowgroup | A structure containing one or more row elements in a tabular container. | structure | structure |
| scrollbar | A graphical object that controls the scrolling of content within a viewing area, regardless of whether the content is fully displayed within the viewing area. | structure | range, widget |
| section abstract | A renderable structural containment unit on a page. | structure | structure |
| sectionhead abstract | A structure that labels or summarizes the topic of its related section. | structure | structure |
| separator | A divider that separates and distinguishes sections of content or groups of menuitems. | structure | structure, widget |
| tab | A grouping label providing a mechanism for selecting the tab content that is to be rendered to the user. | structure | sectionhead, widget |
| text | An element whose entire subtree should be exposed to accessibility APIs as plain text. | structure | structure |
| alert | A type of live region with important, and usually time-sensitive, information. See related alertdialog and status. | structure | section |
| alertdialog | A type of dialog that contains an alert message, where initial focus goes to an element within the dialog. See related alert and dialog. | structure | alert, dialog |
| article | A section of a page that consists of a composition that forms an independent part of a document, page, or site. | structure | document |
| blockquote | A section of content that is quoted from another source. | structure | section |
| button | An input that allows for user-triggered actions when clicked or pressed. See related link. | widget | command |
| caption | Visible content that names, or describes a figure, grid, group, radiogroup, table or treegrid. | structure | section |
| cell | A cell in a tabular container. See related gridcell. | structure | section |
| checkbox | A checkable input that has three possible values: true, false, or mixed. | widget | input |
| code | A section whose content represents a fragment of computer code. | structure | section |
| columnheader | A cell containing header information for a column. | structure | cell, gridcell, sectionhead |
| combobox | An input that controls another element, such as a listbox or grid, that can dynamically pop up to help the user set the value of the input. | widget | input |
| definition | A definition of a term or concept. See related term. | structure | section |
| deletion | A deletion represents content that is marked as removed, content that is being suggested for removal, or content that is no longer relevant in the context of its accompanying content. See related insertion. | structure | section |
| emphasis | One or more emphasized characters. See related strong. | structure | section |
| figure | A perceivable section of content that typically contains a graphical document, images, media player, code snippets, or example text. The parts of a figure MAY be user-navigable. | structure | section |
| grid | A composite widget containing a collection of one or more rows with one or more cells where some or all cells in the grid are focusable by using methods of two-dimensional navigation, such as directional arrow keys. | widget | composite, table |
| group | A set of user interface objects and information that is not intended to be included in a page summary or table of contents by assistive technologies. | structure | section |
| heading | A heading for a section of the page. | structure | sectionhead |
| image | A container for a collection of [=elements=] that form an image. See synonym img. | structure | section |
| insertion | An insertion contains content that is marked as added or content that is being suggested for addition. See related deletion. | structure | section |
| landmark abstract | A perceivable section containing content that is relevant to a specific, author-specified purpose and sufficiently important that users will likely want to be able to navigate to the section easily and to have it listed in a summary of the page. Such a page summary could be generated dynamically by a user agent or assistive technology. | landmark | section |
| link | An interactive reference to an internal or external resource that, when activated, causes the user agent to navigate to that resource. See related button. | widget | command |
| list | A section containing listitem elements. See related listbox. | structure | section |
| listitem | A single item in a list or directory. | structure | section |
| log | A type of live region where new information is added in meaningful order and old information can disappear. | structure | section |
| mark | Content which is marked or highlighted for reference or notation purposes, due to the content's relevance in the enclosing context. | structure | section |
| marquee | A section of content where non-essential information changes frequently. | structure | section |
| math | Content that represents a mathematical expression. | structure | section |
| menuitem | An option in a set of choices contained by a menu or menubar. | widget | command |
| meter | An element that represents a scalar measurement within a known range, or a fractional value. See related progressbar. | structure | range |
| note | A section whose content represents additional information or parenthetical context to the primary content it supplements. | structure | section |
| option | An item in a listbox. | widget | input |
| paragraph | A paragraph of content. | structure | section |
| password | An input for entering a password. | widget | input |
| radio | A checkable input in a group of elements with the same role, only one of which can be checked at a time. | widget | input |
| rowheader | A cell containing header information for a row. | structure | cell, gridcell, sectionhead |
| sectionfooter | A set of user interface objects and information representing information about its closest ancestral content group. For instance, a sectionfooter can include information about who wrote the specific section of content, such as an article. It can contain links to related documents, copyright information or other indices and colophon specific to the current section of the page. | structure | section |
| sectionheader | A set of user interface objects and information that represents a collection of introductory items for the element's closest ancestral content group. For instance, a sectionheader can include the heading, introductory statement and related meta data for a section of content, for instance a region or article, within a web page. | structure | section |
| select abstract | A form widget that allows the user to make selections from a set of choices. | widget | composite, group |
| slider | An input where the user selects a value from within a given range. | widget | input, range |
| spinbutton | A form of range that expects the user to select from among discrete choices. | widget | composite, input, range |
| status | A type of live region whose content is advisory information for the user but is not important enough to justify an alert, often but not necessarily presented as a status bar. | structure | section |
| strong | Content that is important, serious, or urgent. See related emphasis. | structure | section |
| subscript | One or more subscripted characters. See related superscript. | structure | section |
| suggestion | A single proposed change to content. | structure | section |
| superscript | One or more superscripted characters. See related subscript. | structure | section |
| table | A section containing data arranged in rows and columns. See related grid. | structure | section |
| tablist | A list of tab [=elements=], which are references to tabpanel elements. | widget | composite |
| tabpanel | A container for the resources associated with a tab, where each tab is contained in a tablist. | structure | section |
| term | A word or phrase with an optional corresponding definition. See related definition. | structure | section |
| textbox | A type of input that allows free-form text as its value. | widget | input |
| time | An element that represents a specific point in time. | structure | section |
| tooltip | A contextual popup that displays a description for an element. | structure | section |
| banner | A landmark that contains mostly site-oriented content, rather than page-specific content. | landmark | landmark |
| comment | A comment contains content expressing reaction to other content. | structure | article |
| complementary | A landmark that is designed to be complementary to the main content that it is a sibling to, or a direct descendant of. The contents of a complementary landmark would be expected to remain meaningful if it were to be separated from the main content it is relevant to. | landmark | landmark |
| contentinfo | A landmark that contains information about the parent document. | landmark | landmark |
| directory | [Deprecated in ARIA 1.2] A list of references to members of a group, such as a static table of contents. | structure | list |
| feed | A scrollable list of articles where scrolling might cause articles to be added to or removed from either end of the list. | structure | list |
| form | A landmark region that contains a collection of items and objects that, as a whole, combine to create a form. See related search. | landmark | landmark |
| listbox | A widget that allows the user to select one or more items from a list of choices. See related combobox and list. | widget | select |
| main | A landmark containing the main content of a document. | landmark | landmark |
| menu | A type of widget that offers a list of choices to the user. | widget | select |
| menuitemcheckbox | A menuitem with a checkable state whose possible values are true, false, or mixed. | widget | menuitem |
| menuitemradio | A checkable menuitem in a set of elements with the same role, only one of which can be checked at a time. | widget | menuitem |
| navigation | A landmark containing a collection of navigational [=elements=] (usually links) for navigating the document or related documents. | landmark | landmark |
| radiogroup | A group of radio buttons. | widget | select |
| region | A landmark containing content that is relevant to a specific, author-specified purpose and sufficiently important that users will likely want to be able to navigate to the section easily and to have it listed in a summary of the page. Such a page summary could be generated dynamically by a user agent or assistive technology. | landmark | landmark |
| search | A landmark region that contains a collection of items and objects that, as a whole, combine to create a search facility. See related form and searchbox. | landmark | landmark |
| searchbox | A type of textbox intended for specifying search criteria. See related textbox and search. | widget | textbox |
| switch | A type of checkbox that represents on/off values, as opposed to checked/unchecked values. See related checkbox. | widget | checkbox |
| timer | A section of content containing a numerical counter which indicates an amount of elapsed time from a start point, or the time remaining until an end point. | structure | status |
| toolbar | A collection of commonly used function buttons or controls represented in compact visual form. | structure | group |
| tree | A widget that allows the user to select one or more items from a hierarchically organized collection. | widget | select |
| treegrid | A grid whose rows can be expanded and collapsed in the same manner as for a tree. | widget | grid, tree |
| treeitem | An item in a tree. | structure | listitem, option |
| menubar | A presentation of menu that usually remains visible and is usually presented horizontally. | widget | menu |
Source. W3C WAI-ARIA specification · W3C Document Licence · retrieved 2026-07-31. This collection is reproduced.