HTML Validation

Bad value “article” for attribute “role” on element “section”.

About This HTML Issue

Using role="article" on a <section> element is invalid because article is not a permitted value for the role attribute.

The role attribute in HTML is used to define ARIA roles that describe the purpose of an element for assistive technologies. Only specific, predefined ARIA roles are valid per the WAI-ARIA specification. article is not a recognized ARIA role—use document or other appropriate roles instead, or omit the role attribute entirely. The <article> and <section> elements already have implicit roles, so manual role assignment is rarely necessary or useful for these elements.

Valid uses:

Use <article> without a role attribute for content that is self-contained and intended to be independently distributable or reusable.
Use <section> for grouping related content and omit the role attribute unless a specific ARIA landmark role is needed (such as region).

Example: use <article> for standalone content

<article>
  <h2>News headline</h2>
  <p>News content goes here.</p>
</article>

Example: use <section> without a role attribute for generic grouping

<section>
  <h2>Introduction</h2>
  <p>Section content.</p>
</section>

Learn more:

Last reviewed: May 05, 2025

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Reading time

1 min read

Category

HTML Validation

Engine

W3C Validator

Last reviewed

May 05, 2025

Resources

Related W3C Validator Issues

Bad value “listitem” for attribute “role” on element “article”.

Using the ARIA role value listitem on an article element is invalid.

The article element is a landmark with an implicit role of article, and ARIA requires roles to match the element’s semantics. The listitem role is only valid for elements that are direct children of a list-type container with role list or group, or native lists like ul/ol. If you want an article in a list, wrap each article in a proper list container and either rely on native semantics (ul/ol) or use a neutral container with an explicit role="list". Avoid overriding landmark elements with unrelated roles. Use the role attribute only when necessary, and prefer native HTML semantics.

HTML Examples

Invalid: article with role=”listitem”

<article role="listitem">
  <h2>News item</h2>
  <p>Details...</p>
</article>

Valid options

<!-- Option A: Use native list semantics -->

<ul>
  <li>
    <article>
      <h2>News item</h2>
      <p>Details...</p>
    </article>
  </li>
  <li>
    <article>
      <h2>Another item</h2>
      <p>More details...</p>
    </article>
  </li>
</ul>

<!-- Option B: ARIA list with neutral containers -->

<div role="list">
  <div role="listitem">
    <article>
      <h2>News item</h2>
      <p>Details...</p>
    </article>
  </div>
  <div role="listitem">
    <article>
      <h2>Another item</h2>
      <p>More details...</p>
    </article>
  </div>
</div>

Bad value “tabpanel” for attribute “role” on element “article”.

The role="tabpanel" attribute is not permitted on the article element according to W3C and WHATWG HTML specifications.

The role attribute helps describe the purpose of an element for assistive technologies. The value tabpanel indicates a section of a tab interface and should be used only with elements suited to that role—typically generic containers like div or section, not article. The article element has its own landmark meaning and should not be used for widgets such as tab panels.

Correct usage:

Use role="tabpanel" on a div or section element.
Use role="tablist" on the container of the tabs.
Use role="tab" on each tab.

Incorrect:

<article role="tabpanel" id="panel1">
  Tab panel content here.
</article>

Correct:

<div role="tabpanel" id="panel1">
  Tab panel content here.
</div>

Full example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Tabpanel Example</title>
</head>
<body>
  <div role="tablist">
    <button role="tab" aria-controls="panel1" aria-selected="true">Tab 1</button>
    <button role="tab" aria-controls="panel2" aria-selected="false">Tab 2</button>
  </div>
  <div role="tabpanel" id="panel1">
    Tab panel content here.
  </div>
  <div role="tabpanel" id="panel2" hidden>
    Tab panel 2 content here.
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Replace the article element with a div or section when assigning the tabpanel role to ensure your markup is valid and accessible.

The “article” role is unnecessary for element “article”.

The article role indicates a section of a page that could easily stand on its own on a page, in a document, or on a website, is implicit when using the <article> tag.

This role indicates a section of a page that could easily stand on its own on a page, in a document, or on a website. It is usually set on related content items such as comments, forum posts, newspaper articles or other items grouped together on one page. It can be added to generic elements like <div> to convey this role, for example:

<div role="article">
  <h2>Heading</h2>
  <p>Content...</p>
</div>

Instead of using this role, it’s preferrable to use the native <article> element like this:

<article>
  <h2>Heading</h2>
  <p>Content...</p>
</article>

Article lacks heading. Consider using “h2”-“h6” elements to add identifying headings to all articles.

The <article> element can be used to define complete, self-contained compositions of a document, for example blog posts. Consider using a heading element (any of <h2> to </h6>) to present each article.

Example:

<h1>Our blog</h1>
<article>
  <h2>How to validate accessibility</h2>
  <p>Use Rocket Validator for a in-depth scan</p>
</article>
<article>
  <h2>How to monitor sites for accessibility</h2>
  <p>Define schedules in Rocket Validator</p>
</article>

The “main” element must not appear as a descendant of the “article” element.

main
article

A main element cannot be placed inside an article element according to HTML5 content model rules.

The main element is intended to identify the dominant content of the <body> that is directly related to, or expands upon, the central topic of a document. It is meant to be unique, appearing only once per document, and must not be a descendant of elements like article, aside, header, footer, or nav. Conversely, the article element represents a self-contained composition that could independently be reused or distributed, such as a blog post or news story.

To resolve the error, move the main element so that it is a direct child of the body, and place any article elements inside the main or at the same level, not the other way around.

Incorrect:

<article>
  <main>
    <h1>Article Title</h1>
    <p>This is the article content.</p>
  </main>
</article>

Correct:

<main>
  <article>
    <h1>Article Title</h1>
    <p>This is the article content.</p>
  </article>
</main>

Minimal valid HTML document:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Article in Main Example</title>
</head>
<body>
  <main>
    <article>
      <h1>Article Title</h1>
      <p>This is the article content.</p>
    </article>
  </main>
</body>
</html>

Use only one main element per page and ensure it is not nested inside sectioning elements such as article.

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