States

WAI-ARIA: aria-grabbed (State)

Authored By :Raghavendra Satish Peri Last Updated :April 23, 2024 States

Description

[Deprecated in ARIA 1.1]

In ARIA 1.1 the drag and drop attributes aria-grabbed and aria-dropeffect were slated to be deprecated.The idea was to use native accessibility API features for drag and drop instead. However, in practice, since the accessibility API features for accessible drag and drop still don’t exist and likely won’t for several years, these attributes will continue to be supported on the Windows OS and reflected in the accessibility tree for some years to come until these APIs become available for use in development.

As such, the prior ARIA 1.0 guidance for making drag and drop accessible still remains valid at this time.

Indicates an element’s “grabbed” state in a drag-and-drop operation.

Note: The aria-grabbed state is expected to be replaced by a new feature in a future version of WAI-ARIA. Authors are therefore advised to treat aria-grabbed as deprecated.

Setting aria-grabbed to true indicates that the element has been selected for dragging. Setting aria-grabbed to false indicates that the element can be grabbed for a drag-and-drop operation, but is not currently grabbed. If aria-grabbed is unspecified or set to undefined (default), the element cannot be grabbed.

When aria-grabbed is set to true, authors SHOULD update the aria-dropeffect attribute of all potential drop targets. When an element is not grabbed (the value is set to false or undefined, or the attribute is removed), authors SHOULD revert the aria-dropeffect attributes of the associated drop targets to none.

Example

Example coming soon

Characteristics

Used in Roles

All elements of the base markup

Value

true/false/undefined:
Value representing true, false, or not applicable. For example, an element with aria-expanded set to false is not currently expanded; an element with aria-expanded set to undefined is not expandable. The default value for this value type is undefined unless otherwise specified.
false
Indicates that the element supports being dragged.
true
- Indicates that the element has been “grabbed” for dragging.
undefined (default)
- Indicates that the element does not support being dragged.

Semantic HTML

No HTML element equivalent.

Reference

WAI-ARIA 1.2 Specification
Refer to the notes from the WAI-ARIA 1.2 specification for more information on aria-grabbed.

Raghavendra Satish Peri

Raghavendra Satish Peri empowers enterprises with his expertise in digital accessibility and marketing. Through his impactful work, he collaborates with both small businesses and large enterprises, spearheading digital transformation initiatives. Raghavendra is the author behind the influential Accessibility Blog hosted at DigitalA11Y.com, where he delves into the intricate realm of digital accessibility and its significance.
Passionate about fostering change within the tech landscape, Raghavendra actively inspires local tech communities through engaging meetups and mentorship. He is the driving force behind HelloA11Y.com, a vibrant platform that unites accessibility professionals, developers, and enthusiasts, propelling the adoption of accessible practices.
Beyond the digital realm, Raghavendra seeks diverse experiences. You might find him exploring various cuisines at local cafes and restaurants or immersing himself in thought-provoking audio books. His insights and musings also find a home on his Personal Blog at raghava.in, where he shares his thoughts and experiences with a wider audience.