The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has recently declared WAI-ARIA 1.2 as a “W3C Recommendation” Web Standard. WAI-ARIA, which stands for Accessible Rich Internet Applications, is a specification that aims to improve the accessibility and interoperability of web content and applications by providing semantic information about widgets, structures, and behaviours.
Web accessibility plays a vital role in ensuring that individuals with disability can access and navigate web content effectively. WAI-ARIA 1.2 addresses this need by offering an ontology of roles, states, and properties that define accessible user interface elements. By incorporating these semantics into document-level markup, authors can accurately convey user interface behaviours and structural information to assistive technologies, enabling them to provide appropriate information to people with disability.
The latest version, WAI-ARIA 1.2, introduces new features that enhance interoperability with assistive technologies. These additions create a more consistent accessibility model for HTML and SVG2, further improving the overall accessibility and usability of web content across various platforms.
With the adoption of WAI-ARIA 1.2 as a Web Standard, web developers and content creators are encouraged to implement its guidelines to ensure their websites and applications are more inclusive and accessible to individuals with disability. By leveraging the features provided by WAI-ARIA 1.2, web content can be structured in a way that facilitates seamless interaction and navigation for users relying on assistive technologies.
For more detail into this announcement, please refer to the W3C website.