role attribute | role property
[This documentation is preliminary and is subject to change.]
Sets or retrieves the role for this element.
 |
Syntax
| HTML | <element role="p" ... > |
|---|---|
| JavaScript | |
Property values
Type: String
the role.
Remarks
In compliance with the Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) specification, Windows Internet Explorer 8 will override implicit roles in favor of roles provided by a Web author.
Build date: 3/8/2012
Community Content
Mark Birbeck
@role is defined in its own W3C specification, not ARIA
It's worth pointing out that @role was defined quite a long time ago, in its own specification, called XHTML Role Attribute Module [1]. It is this that provided the foundation for the ARIA work, which essentially defines a series of values for @role.
This may sound like nit-picking, but the whole premise of @role was to provide an extension-point for many different technologies, including those that we haven't yet thought of. ARIA is merely one such use of @role, and to co-opt it for this one scenario would weaken its usefulness.
[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-role/