Understanding the First Rule of ARIA?
It is common to hear people say that the first rule of ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) "is dont use ARIA". While this is some-what true it can also be misleading. Understanding when to use ARIA and when not to is an important part of building accessible web applications.
Perceivable - Ensuring Information is Presentable
Perceivable, focuses on ensuring that information and user interface components are presentable to users in ways they can understand by using sight, sound or other assitive technologies
Understandable - Easy to understand and use
Understandable ensures that content is presented in a simple and clear manner, it focuses on ensuring that information and user interface components are presented in a way that is easy to comprehend and use (operate).
Operable: Ensuring Accessibility for All Users
Operable focuses on ensuring that all functionality is available from a keyboard, providing users enough time to read and use content, and helping users navigate and find content.
Robust - Compatibility across current and future devices
Robustness ensures that web content works well with both current and future user agents and assistive technologies. This is critical because the web is constantly evolving, and new technologies and devices are continuously being developed. To achieve this, developers should use standard, valid, and well-formed code.