WAI-ARIA: aria-selected (State)
Description
Indicates the current “selected” state of various widgets. See related aria-checked and aria-pressed.
This attribute is used with single-selection and multiple-selection widgets:
Single-selection containers where the currently focused item is not selected. The selection normally follows the focus, and is managed by the user agent.
Multiple-selection containers. Authors SHOULD ensure that any selectable descendant of a container in which the aria-multiselectable attribute is true specifies a value of either true or false for the aria-selected attribute.
Any explicit assignment of aria-selected takes precedence over the implicit selection based on focus. If no DOM element in the widget is explicitly marked as selected, assistive technologies MAY convey implicit selection which follows the keyboard focus of the managed focus widget. If any DOM element in the widget is explicitly marked as selected, the user agent MUST NOT convey implicit selection for the widget.
Browser Compatibility For aria-selected
| desktop | mobile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ariaSelected | ChromeFull support81 | EdgeFull support81 | FirefoxNo supportNo | Internet ExplorerNo supportNo | OperaFull support68 | SafariFull support12.1 | WebView AndroidFull support81 | Chrome AndroidFull support81 | Firefox for AndroidNo supportNo | Opera AndroidFull support58 | Safari on iOSFull support12.2 | Samsung InternetFull support13.0 |
Screen Reader Support For aria-selected
| Expectation | JAWS | Narrator | NVDA | Orca | TalkBack | VoiceOver (iOS) | VoiceOver (macOS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Edge | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Firefox | Chrome | Safari | Safari | |
| MUST convey undefined value by indicating that the element is not selectable | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | supported | none | supported | supported | supported | supported |
| MUST convey false value by indicating that the element can be selected | none | none | none | none | supported | supported | supported | none | none | none | none |
| MUST convey true value by indicating that the element is currently selected | partial (1/2) | partial (1/2) | none | supported | none | none | none | none | partial (1/2) | none | partial (1/2) |
| MUST convey changes to aria-selected value | none | none | none | supported | supported | supported | none | none | partial | none | none |
aria-selected Example
<div class="tab-interface">
<div role="tablist" aria-label="Sample Tabs">
<span
role="tab"
aria-selected="true"
aria-controls="panel-1"
id="tab-1"
tabindex="0">
First Tab
</span>
<span
role="tab"
aria-selected="false"
aria-controls="panel-2"
id="tab-2"
tabindex="-1">
Second Tab
</span>
<span
role="tab"
aria-selected="false"
aria-controls="panel-3"
id="tab-3"
tabindex="-1">
Third Tab
</span>
</div>
<div id="panel-1" role="tabpanel" tabindex="0" aria-labelledby="tab-1">
<p>Content for the first panel</p>
</div>
<div id="panel-2" role="tabpanel" tabindex="0" aria-labelledby="tab-2" hidden>
<p>Content for the second panel</p>
</div>
<div id="panel-3" role="tabpanel" tabindex="0" aria-labelledby="tab-3" hidden>
<p>Content for the third panel</p>
</div>
</div>
Characteristics
Used in Roles
Inherits into Roles
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
- The selectable element is not selected.
- true
- The selectable element is selected.
- undefined (default)
- The element is not selectable.
Semantic HTML
Use the HTML “selected” attribute.
<select><option value="volvo">Volvo</option><option value="saab">Saab</option><option value="vw">VW</option><option value="audi" selected>Audi</option></select>
Reference
- W3C (opens new window)
- A11Y Support
- MDN Web Docs
