Graphics Accessibility API Mappings (original) (raw)
Abstract
The Graphics Accessibility API Mappings defines how user agents map the WAI-ARIA Graphics Module [GRAPHICS-ARIA-1.0] markup to platformaccessibility APIs. It is intended for user agent developers responsible for accessibility in their user agent so that they can support the accessibility of graphics such as that created for [SVG] or [HTML52].
The implementation of this specification in user agents enables authors to produce more accessible graphics by conveying common graphics semantics to assistive technologies. It provides Accessibility API Mapping guidance for the roles defined in the WAI-ARIA Graphics Module [GRAPHICS-ARIA-1.0].
The Graphics Accessibility API Mappings is part of theWAI-ARIA suite described in theWAI-ARIA Overview.
Status of This Document
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in theW3C standards and drafts index at https://www.w3.org/TR/.
This is an Editor's Draft of Graphics Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 by the SVG Accessibility Task Force, a joint task force of theAccessible Rich Internet Applications Working Group and the SVG Working Group. It provides guidance for mapping roles in WAI-ARIA Graphics Module [GRAPHICS-ARIA-1.0] to accessibility APIs, and complements SVG-specific mappings in theSVG Accessibility API Mappings [SVG-AAM-1.0]. It extends Core Accessibility Mappings 1.1 [CORE-AAM-1.1], and is part of a suite of similar technology-specific Accessibility API Mappings specifications.
Feedback on any aspect of the specification is accepted. For this publication, the SVG Accessibility Task Force particularly seeks feedback on the following questions:
- Are mappings of graphics features clear and appropriate?
- Do the platform API mappings appropriately reflect the semantics defined for these roles in the WAI-ARIA Graphics Module?
- Is the relationship of this specification to Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.1 clear?
- Is the relationship of this specification to WAI-ARIA Graphics Module and WAI-ARIA 1.1 clear?
To comment, file an issue in the W3C graphics-aam GitHub repository. If this is not feasible, send email topublic-aria@w3.org (comment archive). In-progress updates to the document may be viewed in the publicly visible editors' draft.
This document was published by the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Working Group as an Editor's Draft.
Publication as an Editor's Draft does not imply endorsement by W3C and its Members.
This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.
This document was produced by a group operating under theW3C Patent Policy.W3C maintains apublic list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes containsEssential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance withsection 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
This document is governed by the03 November 2023 W3C Process Document.
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Status of This Document
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Conformance
- 3. Mapping WAI-ARIA to Accessibility APIs
- 4. Conflicts between native markup semantics and WAI-ARIA
- 5. Exposing attributes that do not directly map to accessibility API properties
- 6. Role mapping
- A. Change Log
- B. Acknowledgments
- B.1 Participants active in the SVG accessibility task force at the time of publication
- B.2 Participants active in the ARIA WG at the time of publication
- B.3 Enabling funders
- C. References
- C.1 Normative references
- C.2 Informative references
This section is non-normative.
The Graphics Accessibility API Mappings specification provides role mappings for the roles in the WAI-ARIA Graphics Module [GRAPHICS-ARIA-1.0].
For web documents and applications, the essential semantic information is encapsulated within the Document Object Model (DOM). Assistive technologies obtain this information from the user agent, which maps elements and attributes to the platform Accessibility API.
The original suite of element semantics defined byWAI-ARIA 1.0 only considered graphics as individual embedded images, with no interactivity or meaningful semantic structure. It was therefore not sufficient for communicating complex graphics, such as labelled diagrams or data charts, or for interactive graphics. The WAI-ARIA Graphics Module defines a core set of three roles that can convey the structure of a graphic. This specification defines how user agents should expose those roles to the accessibility APIs currently in use, so that the semantic information is available to assistive technologies that use those APIs.
For an introduction to WAI-ARIA, see theWAI-ARIA Overview. It is part of a set of resources that define and support theWAI-ARIA specification, including the following documents:
- Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.1 [WAI-ARIA-1.1], a plannedW3C recommendation that extends the exising ARIA standard [WAI-ARIA-1.0]. It defines the core roles, states, and properties.
- WAI-ARIA Graphics Module [GRAPHICS-ARIA-1.0], a plannedW3C recommendation that defines graphics roles, states, and properties not included inAccessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.1 [WAI-ARIA-1.1].
- Core Accessibility API Mappings specification [CORE-AAM-1.1], which expresses howWAI-ARIA roles, states, and properties should be supported in user agents using platform accessibility APIs.
- SVG Accessibility API Mappings [SVG-AAM-1.0], a planned W3C recommendation, which expresses how WAI-ARIA roles, states, and properties should be supported in user agents using platform accessibility APIs.
- Accessible Name and Description: Computation and API Mappings 1.1 [ACCNAME-AAM-1.1], which outlines the specific steps user agents should follow in order to identify accessible names (labels) and descriptions (alternative text) for elements that are exposed to assistive technologies.
- WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices Guide [WAI-ARIA-PRACTICES-1.1], a planned W3C Working Group Note, which describes how web content developers can develop accessible rich internet applications usingWAI-ARIA. It provides detailed advice and examples directed primarily to web application developers, yet also useful to developers of user agents and assistive technologies.
As well as sections marked as non-normative, all authoring guidelines, diagrams, examples, and notes in this specification are non-normative. Everything else in this specification is normative.
The key words MAY, MUST, MUST NOT, OPTIONAL, RECOMMENDED, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, and SHOULD in this document are to be interpreted as described inBCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
The main content of this specification is normative and defines requirements that impact conformance claims. Introductory material, appendices, sections marked as "non-normative" and their subsections, diagrams, examples, and notes are informative (non-normative). Non-normative material provides advisory information to help interpret the guidelines but does not create requirements that impact a conformance claim.
Normative sections provide requirements that user agents must follow for an implementation to conform to this specification. The keywords _MUST,_MUST NOT, _REQUIRED, _SHALL, _SHALL NOT, _SHOULD,_RECOMMENDED, _MAY, and _OPTIONAL in this document are to be interpreted as described inKeywords for use in RFCs to indicate requirement levels [RFC2119]. RFC-2119 keywords are formatted in uppercase and contained in an element with class="rfc2119". When the keywords shown above are used, but do not share this format, they do not convey formal information in the RFC 2119 sense, and are merely explanatory, i.e., informative. As much as possible, such usages are avoided in this specification.
Normative sections provide requirements that authors, user agents and assistive technologies MUST follow for an implementation to conform to this specification.
Non-normative (informative) sections provide information useful to understanding the specification. Such sections may contain examples of recommended practice, but it is not required to follow such recommendations in order to conform to this specification.
This section MUST conform to General rules for exposing WAI-ARIA semantics in [CORE-AAM-1.1].
User agents MUST conform to Conflicts between native markup semantics and WAI-ARIA in [CORE-AAM-1.1].
User agents MUST conform toExposing attributes that do not directly map to accessibility API properties in [CORE-AAM-1.1].
Platform accessibility APIs traditionally have had a finite set of predefined roles that are expected by assistive technologies on that platform and only one or two roles may be exposed. In contrast,WAI-ARIA allows multiple roles to be specified as an ordered set of space-separated valid role tokens. The additional roles are fallback roles similar to the concept of specifying multiple fonts in case the first choice font type is not supported.
User agents MUST conform to the Role Mapping General Rules accessibility API computational requirements in [CORE-AAM-1.1].
This section defines how roles in graphics map to platform accessibility APIs based on their native host language semantics and when WAI-ARIA roles are applied. This section refers directly to the Core Accessibility API Mappings specification.
| Graphics-ARIA Specification | graphics-document |
|---|---|
| Computed Role | graphics-document |
| MSAA + IAccessible2 Role + Other IAccessible2 Features | ROLE_SYSTEM_DOCUMENT + STATE_SYSTEM_READONLY IAccessible2: Object attribute xml-roles:graphics-document. |
| UIA Control Type + Other Features | Control Type: 'Document'. |
| ATK/AT-SPI Role | Expose ROLE_DOCUMENT_FRAME and object attribute xml-roles:graphics-document. |
| AXAPI | AXRole: AXGroup AXSubrole: AXDocument AXRoleDescription: 'document' |
| Graphics-ARIA Specification | graphics-object |
|---|---|
| Computed Role | graphics-object |
| MSAA + IAccessible2 Role + Other IAccessible2 Features | ROLE_SYSTEM_GROUPING +IAccessible2: Object attribute xml-roles:graphics-object. |
| UIA Control Type + Other Features | Control Type: 'Group'. |
| ATK/AT-SPI Role | Expose ROLE_PANEL and object attribute xml-roles:graphics-object. |
| AXAPI | AXRole: AXGroup AXSubrole: AXRoleDescription: 'group' |
| Graphics-ARIA Specification | graphics-symbol |
|---|---|
| Computed Role | graphics-symbol |
| MSAA + IAccessible2 Role + Other IAccessible2 Features | ROLE_SYSTEM_GRAPHIC IAccessible2: Object attribute xml-roles:graphics-symbol. |
| UIA Control Type + Other Features | Control Type: 'Image'. |
| ATK/AT-SPI Role | Expose ROLE_IMAGE and object attribute xml-roles:graphics-symbol. |
| AXAPI | AXRole: AXImage AXSubrole: AXRoleDescription: 'image' |
The full commit history to Graphics Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 is available.
- 2017-11-10: Fix macOS mapping for graphics-symbol.
- 2017-11-15: Fix ATK mappings
- 2017-12-04: Fix macOS mapping for graphics-symbol; Update UIA mappings
This section is non-normative.
The following people contributed to the development of this document.
Amelia Bellamy-Royds (Invited expert)
Fred Esch (IBM Corporation)
Charles McCathieNevile (Yandex)
Charu Pandhi (IBM Corporation)
Doug Schepers (W3C Staff)
Richard Schwerdtfeger (Knowbility)
Léonie Watson (The Paciello Group)
Jason White (Educational Testing Service)
This publication has been funded in part with U.S. Federal funds from the Department of Education, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), initially under contract number ED-OSE-10-C-0067, then under contract number HHSP23301500054C, and now under HHS75P00120P00168. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
[CORE-AAM-1.1]
Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.1. Joanmarie Diggs; Joseph Scheuhammer; Richard Schwerdtfeger; Michael Cooper; Andi Snow-Weaver; Aaron Leventhal. W3C. 14 December 2017. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/core-aam-1.1/
[RFC2119]
Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels. S. Bradner. IETF. March 1997. Best Current Practice. URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119
[RFC8174]
Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words. B. Leiba. IETF. May 2017. Best Current Practice. URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174
[ACCNAME-AAM-1.1]
Accessible Name and Description Computation 1.1. Joanmarie Diggs; Bryan Garaventa; Michael Cooper. W3C. 18 December 2018. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/accname-1.1/
[GRAPHICS-ARIA-1.0]
WAI-ARIA Graphics Module. Amelia Bellamy-Royds; Joanmarie Diggs; Michael Cooper. W3C. 2 October 2018. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/graphics-aria-1.0/
[HTML52]
HTML 5.2. Steve Faulkner; Arron Eicholz; Travis Leithead; Alex Danilo; Sangwhan Moon. W3C. 28 January 2021. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/html52/
[infra]
Infra Standard. Anne van Kesteren; Domenic Denicola. WHATWG. Living Standard. URL: https://infra.spec.whatwg.org/
[SVG]
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Specification. Jon Ferraiolo. W3C. 4 September 2001. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/
[SVG-AAM-1.0]
SVG Accessibility API Mappings. Amelia Bellamy-Royds; Ian Pouncey. W3C. 10 May 2018. W3C Working Draft. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/svg-aam-1.0/
[WAI-ARIA-1.0]
Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.0. James Craig; Michael Cooper et al. W3C. 20 March 2014. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/
[WAI-ARIA-1.1]
Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.1. Joanmarie Diggs; Shane McCarron; Michael Cooper; Richard Schwerdtfeger; James Craig. W3C. 14 December 2017. W3C Recommendation. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/
[WAI-ARIA-PRACTICES-1.1]
WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices 1.1. Matthew King; JaEun Jemma Ku; James Nurthen; Zoë Bijl; Michael Cooper. W3C. 19 May 2022. W3C Working Group Note. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/