aria

name

aria

description

Review and implement accessibility patterns for UI components following WAI-ARIA and WCAG 2.1. Use when auditing code for a11y issues, implementing accessible controls, adding ARIA attributes, fixing keyboard navigation, handling focus management, building screen reader support, or implementing media player accessibility. Triggers on "accessibility review", "a11y", "ARIA", "keyboard navigation", "screen reader", "focus management", "WCAG", "captions", "live region".

ARIA Skill

References

Pattern	Reference
Keyboard Navigation	keyboard.md
Focus Management	focus.md
ARIA Roles & States	aria.md
React Patterns	react.md
Media Players	media.md
Anti-Patterns	anti-patterns.md

Review

For structured accessibility reviews, load the review workflow:

File	Contents
workflow.md	Review process and severity
checklist.md	Comprehensive checklist
templates.md	Issue and report formats

Core Principles

1. Semantic HTML first — Use native elements before ARIA
2. Keyboard accessible — All interactions work without a mouse
3. Focus visible — Clear indication of current focus
4. Name, Role, Value — Every control has accessible name, correct role, exposed state
5. Announce changes — Dynamic content updates reach screen readers

Common Issues (Quick Fixes)

Issue	Fix
Icon button no name	Add aria-label
Custom control no role	Add appropriate role attribute
Focus outline removed	Use focus-visible instead
Toggle state unclear	Use aria-pressed or aria-expanded
Dynamic content silent	Add live region with aria-live
Click-only handler	Add keydown for Enter/Space

Anti-Patterns

❌ Never do these:

• Remove focus outlines without replacement
• Use tabindex > 0
• Rely solely on color to convey information
• Auto-focus without user intent
• Trap focus unintentionally
• Use ARIA where native HTML suffices
• Change aria-label to convey state (use aria-pressed)

Next Steps

• For keyboard patterns: keyboard.md
• For focus management: focus.md
• For ARIA roles and states: aria.md
• For React-specific patterns: react.md
• For media player accessibility: media.md
• For common mistakes: anti-patterns.md
• For comprehensive checklist: checklist.md

Related Skills

Need	Use
Building UI components	component skill
API design principles	api skill
Documentation	docs skill