WAI-ARIA: aria-label (Property)

Description

Defines a string value that labels the current element. See related aria-labelledby.

The purpose of aria-label is the same as that of aria-labelledby. It provides the user with a recognizable name of the object. The most common accessibility API mapping for a label is the accessible name property.

If the label text is visible on screen, authors SHOULD use aria-labelledby and SHOULD NOT use aria-label. There may be instances where the name of an element cannot be determined programmatically from the content of the element, and there are cases where providing a visible label is not the desired user experience. Most host languages provide an attribute that could be used to name the element (e.g., the title attribute in HTML), yet this could present a browser tooltip. In the cases where a visible label or visible tooltip is undesirable, authors MAY set the accessible name of the element using aria-label. As required by the text alternative computation, user agents give precedence to aria-labelledby over aria-label when computing the accessible name property.

Browser Compatibility

Screen Reader Support

aria-label Example

HTML Example 1

<div id="nav" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Products</li>
<li>Support</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div id="nav" role="navigation" aria-label="product navigation">
<ul>
<li>Product Description</li>
<li>Technical Specifications</li>
<li>Customer Reviews</li>
</ul>
</div>

Characteristics

Related Concepts

HTML title

Used in Roles

All elements of the base markup

Value

String
Unconstrained value type.

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-label.
• A11Y Support
  The screenreader compatibility for each of the ARIA attributes is taken from the A11Y Support. Please refer to the original source if screenreader compatibility is updated for aria-label.
• MDN Web Docs
  The browser compatibility for each of the ARIA attributes is taken from the MDN Web Docs. Please refer to the original source if browser compatibility is updated for aria-label.